On July 21, 2025, the Godrej DEI Lab hosted a much-needed conversation on menopause titled Midlife Mastery: Hormones, Health, and How to Thrive at Godrej One, Vikhroli with Dr. Sukhpreet Patel, founder of Menopause Wize. Dr. Patel was in conversation with Nisaba Godrej, Executive Chairperson of Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. The conversation was part of a larger effort at Godrej Industries Group to better understand this important life stage, which coincides with peak working years for many people; and to build support structures for people managing its symptoms, which can vary widely, and remain poorly measured and studied in India.
Parmesh Shahani, Head, DEI Lab, began the afternoon by acknowledging the silence that often surrounds menopause in professional spaces. He reminded the audience that while not everyone may experience menopause directly, it is a health issue that affects workplaces and deserves open dialogue. He said:
“Perimenopause, and menopause are rarely discussed as a barrier that prevents women from competing at the highest levels. How many CEOs, COOs, and CFOs might we have lost to this vital health concern? It’s clear that the onus is on us to go back to our HR, to our CEOs, and to our teams and managers to explain what they can do to be better at dealing with menopause and to not pretend that this issue doesn’t exist. Clearly, it does!”
Nisaba Godrej began her fireside chat with Dr. Patel with a personal story. She explained how her experience consulting with Dr. Patel over a challenging phase of physical and emotional health had been transformative. The clarity and care she spoke of receiving from Dr. Patel was evident in the conversation that followed—an informative exploration of menopause covering the biology of it to the practical ways women can thrive through it.
What does menopause look like?
Dr. Patel began by demystifying menopause and perimenopause. She explained that menopause is technically one day (not a month, or a year!) "Menopause is actually, by definition, just one day in a woman's life - 12 months from her last and final menstrual period. So if the last period is on 1st January 2020, she has achieved menopause on 1st January 2021, if she has had no period during those 12 months." For Indian women, he average age of menopause is 46, nearly five years earlier than the global average. This earlier onset has significant implications for health for Indian women, especially due to prolonged oestrogen deprivation.
One of the most insightful learnings from Dr. Patel was the systemic impact of hormonal changes. Hot flashes, often dismissed or joked about, are not just notable for their discomfort. They disrupt sleep, increase cardiovascular risk, and affect mood and cognition. Oestrogen, she explained, is protective for the heart, bones, and brain. So, its decline can lead to osteoporosis, hypertension, and even dementia. Dr Patel explained,
“Each cell in our body has oestrogen receptors from the brain to our bones to our blood vessels. Everything has oestrogen, progesterone, testosterone receptors. And the longer we live without oestrogen, the higher our risk of developing disease becomes.”
The emotional toll of menopause is significant too. From anxiety and panic attacks to anhedonia—the inability to feel joy—Dr Patel emphasised that mental health symptoms associated with menopause symptoms are real and deserve validation.
Understanding Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)
The conversation then turned to hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which has long been a subject of confusion and misinformation. Dr. Patel walked the audience through the history of HRT, including the controversial reporting of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study in 2002 that led to a global drop in prescriptions. She clarified that the increased breast cancer risk reported in the study was minimal—6 additional cases per 10,000 women per year—and that newer, bioidentical hormone formulations are safer and more effective. Doctors in the United States have since declared that the risk-benefit ratio of HRT is favourable in many cases. Dr. Patel also argued that HRT’s mitigation of menopausal risk factors helped combat other causes of mortality.
Overall, she stressed the importance of informed choice. “We have to put it all in perspective. It’s about weighing risks and benefits. And I think women deserve a choice. We need to ask her… And then, based on her symptoms, let her decide.”
Dr. Patel also shared her four foundational pillars for thriving through midlife, which she emphasised are non-negotiable for healthy ageing. These are: nutrition, exercise, stress management, and sleep.
Nourishment, not weight loss
When it comes to nutrition, Dr. Patel instructed that the goal during midlife for women should be nourishment, not weight loss. Explaining her perspective, she said, “I think nutrition can be so simple, but it is unnecessarily over-complicated. There are just a few requirements.” On top of these requirements? Protein.
Dr Patel noted that most Indian women are not even consuming half of the recommended 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, per day. She also highlighted the importance of micronutrients like Vitamin D, B12, magnesium, and calcium. During perimenopause and menopause, the body's ability to absorb and utilise essential nutrients tends to decline, often making supplementation a necessary part of maintaining health.
Build muscles, and power
But what about exercise? What can women do? The answer is training for strength and power, and not just on chasing a skinny figure. Her one recommendation? Focus on building muscle.
She identified muscle as a key organ for long-term health and explained how building muscle helps prevent falls, regulates blood sugar by using the most glucose, and even supports brain function. When we exercise, muscle activity stimulates the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein which boosts mood and cognitive clarity. She also encouraged everyone to include weight training and cardio two to three times a week in their exercise routine to build strength and power.
“What we want is power; which is different from strength. Power is strength in motion,” Dr Patel clarified.
Supplements are key
Dr. Patel also recommended taking essential supplements like Omega-3, magnesium, creatine, and Vitamin D3. She explained, “Our body produces [them], we get deficient in it at a certain point in our in our life, and so, we supplement it.” However, she cautioned against over-reliance on adaptogens, available through herbal remedies, not meant to replace what the body can make on its own. Her advice was clear — “Supplements should support your lifestyle, not replace it.”
A good night’s sleep can do wonders
Dr. Patel explained how sleep and stress management are essential for overall well-being, especially during midlife transitions. When sleep is disrupted, it affects everything—from memory and energy to food choices and mood. To counter this, she spoke of practices that can help reset the nervous system, like breathwork, journalling, or therapy.
What can workplaces do?
Nisa led Dr. Patel into a discussion on workplace support for employees who are going through menopause, and how organisational culture can create support. Dr. Patel urged organisations to move beyond simple awareness and create systems of care. She introduced the LEAP framework—Lead the conversation, Environmental changes, Awareness, and Peer support—as a model for menopause-inclusive workplaces. She also emphasised how simple accommodations like flexible schedules, temperature control, and access to medical support can make a big difference.
As the event wrapped up, Dr. Patel left the audience with two powerful metaphors: eat an elephant one bite at a time—which means breaking down the task of caring for yourself into manageable parts. She also brought up the formula of compound interest. Small, consistent efforts—whether in health or workplace culture — add up over time. Her final message was clear: menopause is not the end, but a new beginning.
After the conversation, the panel was open to audience questions. Questions ranged from the role of testosterone for perimenopause to differentiating between perimenopause and PCOS. Bringing forth a trans woman’s perspective, our colleague, Jamini (Deputy Manager - Human Resources, Godrej Properties), enquired about management of symptoms arising from HRT received during transitioning. Dr Patel admitted that very little data is available on the impact of perimenopause on the transgender community. But she explained that there is one thing in common — “the deprivation of oestrogen which starts triggering the symptoms. If you put that oestrogen back, that hot flash will go away. That's the easiest symptom to treat. Just some oestrogen, and the hot flash is gone. There are other drugs but they haven't been successfully used or tested in the trans community."
The event was a reminder that midlife mastery is possible for women—with the right knowledge, support, and community. We hope that workplaces, like Godrej, can lead the way in making this transition not just manageable, but inclusive and empathetic.
Text by Pulakita Mayekar.