On a recent episode of The Goop Podcast, Gwyneth sat down for a conversation titled “What No One Ever Told Us About Menopause.” She was joined by guest Dr. Mary Claire Haver — a board-certified OB-GYN and author of the New York Times bestseller The New Menopause.
As they began discussing their own experiences with menopausal symptoms currently, Gwyneth, 52, shared, “I’m really in the thick of it right now, so I’m all over the place.”
“But I noticed my symptoms are, like, pretty well under control — unless, you know, in January when the fires were happening in LA,” she continued. “I’ve used alcohol for its purpose.”
“I was medicating,” Gwyneth explained before admitting that during “those two weeks I think I drank every night” amid the fires.
Gwyneth went on to explain that her menopausal symptoms were “completely out of control” due to her increased use of alcohol. “Now at this point, I don’t drink a lot at all,” she said. “Maybe I’ll have one drink a week.”
While Gwyneth and her family were thankfully not directly impacted by the LA wildfires back in January, she shared on Instagram at the time that “so many of [her] close friends have lost everything,” and that she was experiencing a “deep grief.”
On her drinking impacting her menopausal symptoms, Gwyneth concluded, “It was the first time I really noticed, like, causation in that way.”
Dr. Haver offered a confirmation of Gwyneth’s suspicions, saying, “Lots of my patients say the same thing. They’ve really just spontaneously realized that they’ve cut back on alcohol or just quit altogether because it hasn’t been worth it. They don’t bounce back the same way. It stays in our system a lot longer.”
Gwyneth also shared that she’s currently “making an effort” to switch her mindset around eating from what it’s been in the past. When Dr. Haver spoke about how she’s trying to “eat to be strong instead of eat to be thin,” Gwyneth opened up about her own challenges.
“It’s tough. It’s hard,” Gwyneth said in reference to eating more protein, saying that her generation “was raised” to value being thin over being strong. “I mean, I’m making a real effort to do it, I’m really trying but sometimes I’m, like, gagging down cottage cheese — I know that it’s necessary, but…” she said, to which Dr. Haver agreed.
The Iron Man star has previously faced scrutiny for her comments surrounding her diet. Back in 2023, Gwyneth received a ton of backlash for describing her diet that seemingly consisted of primarily bone broth and vegetables. At the time, her revelation prompted people to argue that she was promoting unhealthy eating habits.
She then responded, saying, “This was a transparent look at a conversation between me and my doctor. It’s not meant to be advice for anybody else. It’s really just what has worked for me and it’s been very powerful and very positive.”
You can listen to the full podcast episode here. Meanwhile, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
