For nutritionist and naturopath Shelley McKenzie, women’s health became personal long before it became her profession. After experiencing her own health storm at 24 and being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, Shelley went on to study Nutritional Medicine and Naturopathy. Here we talk to her about cycle health and why sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is eat the damn chocolate.
Name: Shelley McKenzie
Day job: Naturopath
Location: Victoria
Describe what you do in one sentence.
I help nourish women from seed to bump to bub, without the overwhelm of conflicting advice.
How did you find your way into nutrition, naturopathy and women’s health?
I experienced my own health storm when I was 24 and was soon after diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, a thyroid condition. From here, I really saw first-hand the power of food as medicine. So I went on to study Nutritional Medicine and then Naturopathy with the hope of educating others.
My specialty… well, when I was pregnant, I soon realized how outdated and unreliable the information was for pregnant women. It was confusing for me as a practitioner, so I pursued further study to take that away for other women.
Then, having three kids under three, I experienced first-hand just how hard it is to look after yourself. So after years of stumbling myself, I found a happy place with my health and now teach other women how to find theirs.
What are women most overwhelmed by when it comes to their health?
Mostly, it’s the sheer volume of contradictory information. A woman can search “what to eat for fertility” and get five different lists of foods to avoid, three supplement stacks, and a wellness influencer telling her she’s doing it all wrong, all before breakfast.
The overwhelm isn’t really about food or hormones; it’s about not knowing who or what to trust, and feeling like there’s a “perfect” way to do this that they’re constantly falling short of.
My job is often less about giving new information and more about taking things away, cutting the noise down to two or three things that actually matter to her.
How has motherhood changed your relationship with your period?
I am in a good place with my period. However, as I near 40, I am starting to notice some subtle changes. Lighter periods in some months, or the duration between periods, is starting to lengthen in days. I haven’t experienced both things before.
Before having children, did you think about your cycle differently?
I have never been on the pill or synthetic forms of contraception, so in my early 20s, I was very much relying on knowing my cycle to avoid pregnancy. I would always opt to not have any sex for a good week around ovulation to be extra safe. And then when I hit my 30s it was knowing my cycle to fall pregnant.
How much can your period tell you about your overall health?
A huge amount. In naturopathic and functional circles, we call the period a “vital sign” for a reason. It reflects thyroid function, stress load, nutrient status, blood sugar regulation, and how well the body feels it can afford to reproduce.
Cycle length, flow, pain, PMS symptoms, even cervical mucus changes, these are the body’s monthly report card. Most women have only ever been taught to notice whether it arrived and how heavy it was. There’s so much more information sitting in there.
What period symptoms are worth investigating, not just putting up with?
Debilitating period pain that stops you from going to work or school. Not “period pain is annoying,” but pain that requires you to lie down. Extremely heavy bleeding, flooding, or passing large clots. Cycles that are wildly irregular or absent. Severe mood changes in the days before your period that feel disproportionate.
PMS has become a punchline, but significant PMS is often a sign something needs attention. Often, blood sugar, liver detoxification of hormones, or nutrient status needs attention. None of these are things to just “get through.”
What do women need more of when it comes to food and their cycle?
Consistency, protein, and enough food, full stop. Most of the women I see aren’t overeating; they’re under-eating, especially earlier in the day, and then trying to power a menstrual cycle on coffee and willpower.
What actually helps is regular meals with enough protein and fiber to keep blood sugar steady, because blood sugar swings are one of the biggest drivers of PMS, cravings, and energy crashes. It’s rarely about restriction. It’s about giving the body enough raw material to do its job.
What do you wish more women understood about energy, food and hormones across their cycle?
That your needs genuinely shift across the month, and that’s not a flaw to manage, it’s information. Energy and appetite often rise in the week before your period because your body is working harder metabolically. Trying to eat identically, or restrict identically, every single day of the cycle ignores biology and often backfires as cravings and bingeing later.
Working with the cycle instead of fighting it is one of the simplest shifts I see that changes how women feel. There’s so much pressure to eat “perfectly” for fertility and pregnancy.
What do you think women are unnecessarily stressing about?
The idea that one “bad” meal, one coffee, or one occasion where you didn’t eat organic is going to derail things. Fertility and a healthy pregnancy are built on patterns over months, not perfect days. I’d much rather a woman eat reasonably well most of the time and actually enjoy her life than white-knuckle her way through pregnancy terrified of soft cheese and caffeine.
Stress itself has a physiological cost. We forget this! So the anxiety about “getting it wrong” can end up doing more harm than the thing she’s worried about.
What’s one nutrition myth you’d love to retire?
That “eating clean” or cutting out entire food groups will fix your cycle. Restriction is one of the most common, and most overlooked causes of irregular or absent periods and reduced fertility. The body needs to feel safe and well-fed to prioritise reproduction.
So many women arrive having already cut gluten, dairy, healthy fats, sugar and more “just in case”, and part of my job is helping them add food back in, not take more away.
What has motherhood taught you about health that your qualifications couldn’t?
That perfection is a myth and chasing it, whether with nutrition or exercise, is a losing game. Motherhood forces you to be flexible, and that has to extend to how you look after your health too. So eat the damn chocolate, have the wine. It’s good for your soul, and your soul matters just as much as the foods that nourish your body.
How do you care for yourself when everyone needs you?
Boundaries, structure and listening to my body, in that order. I’m quite strict about protecting “me time.” At the start of each week, I look at our family schedule and map out my ideal days to exercise and go to the sauna. Those two things make me feel amazing, so they’re non-negotiable, not an afterthought. I let my husband know the plan so he’s across it too; it’s not just my mental load to carry.
And then the listening-to-my-body part is the safety net. Motherhood can tip into overwhelming fast, and if I feel like things are getting too much, we cancel. Because if the extra school activities, coffee dates and playdates feel like too much for me, chances are they’re too much for the kids as well.
What nutritional gaps do you see most in women who are exhausted, busy or trying to conceive?
Protein and iron, consistently. Also often B vitamins, magnesium, and omega-3s. Busy women tend to grab whatever’s fastest, toast, crackers, kids’ leftovers, which is heavy on refined carbs and light on the nutrients that actually rebuild energy and support hormone production. It’s rarely about needing an exotic supplement; it’s about a fairly basic gap in protein and minerals from real, regular meals.
What’s one meal or habit you rely on to nourish yourself?
Meal prep always. Whether it’s my lunches for the week or our dinners in the evenings. Meal prep is everything. If I don’t have meals ready, that meal will be skipped and that’s not good for anyone.
How does your support change from preconception to postpartum?
Preconception is about building reserves: iron, B vitamins, gut and hormone health, and reducing anything that’s stressing the system.
Pregnancy shifts to steady energy, specific nutrients like choline, iodine and omega-3s, and supporting the very real physical changes happening.
Postpartum is when I think support drops off the most for women generally, but it’s arguably when it matters most. Replenishing what was used in pregnancy and birth, supporting milk supply if breastfeeding, and looking after mental health, often while sleep-deprived and barely eating.
I try to keep the thread of “rebuilding, not just surviving” running through all three stages.
What do you think women underestimate about the postpartum period?
How long it actually takes to recover, physically and nutritionally. Culturally, we act like six weeks is the “bounce back” mark, but rebuilding iron stores, nutrient reserves and hormone balance after birth can genuinely take the better part of a year, especially if breastfeeding.
Women are often back doing everything, work, family, social load, long before their body have caught up, and then wonder why they feel wrecked.
What do you wish you’d known about your body before becoming a mum?
How fricken epic my body actually was. There is so much focus on the way it looks or the ‘bounce back’ mentality. But it grew a human from scratch, birthed that human, and then fed that human with milk it made itself.
Like… are you kidding me? Our bodies are epic. That needs to be celebrated more because the way it looks postpartum is just a blip in an epic love story.
What are women still getting wrong about periods and reproductive health?
That being on the pill for years means you “don’t have to think about” your cycle, and that things will simply switch back on smoothly whenever you decide to try to conceive. Also, more broadly, symptoms need to be severe before they’re worth mentioning to a practitioner. Mild-but-persistent is still worth investigating.
Where should you start when you feel disconnected from your body?
Somewhere unglamorous: are you eating enough, regularly, with enough protein, and are you sleeping? It sounds too simple, but most people chasing the next protocol or supplement haven’t nailed these basics yet.
I’d also gently suggest tracking your cycle for a couple of months before doing anything else. It’s free, it’s revealing, and it tells you where to actually focus rather than guessing.
What would you want every woman to know about nourishing her body?
That nourishing your body isn’t a reward for good behaviour or something you earn by eating perfectly. It’s simply what allows everything else in your life to function. You don’t need to overhaul everything. You need to eat enough, regularly, and give yourself the same care you’d insist on for your kids.
MY CYCLE
- My period in 3 words: Easy, manageable, lucky.
- Period self-care toolkit: Heat pack, magnesium, an early night.
- Most underrated period hack? A hot water bottle on your lower back, not just your belly. Most people only put it on the front, but low back heat can ease period pain more effectively for a lot of women.
- Contraception of choice: The snip HAHAHA no but seriously, all jokes aside, it’s been great. Prior to my husband having the snip it was the pull out method.
- On day 1, you'll find me: Doing my usual thing… minus any intense exercise.
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Scarlet pick: Wearable heat pack.