Ovarian Ageing: An Early Signal for your Long-Term Health

Menopause is often viewed as a reproductive milestone, or the end of your reproductive years—but actually, your ovaries can give clues long before menopause about your wider health and future disease risk. Think of ovarian ageing as your body's early warning system, which offers you a chance to act before bigger problems take hold later on. Let’s take a look at what your ovaries can tell us about your health, even well before menopause.

Why Ovarian Ageing Is More Than Fertility

Your ovaries are among the first organs to age in the body, usually beginning to show signs of accelerated ageing from your mid-30s onwards. This earlier decline isn’t just about fertility—it’s tied to accelerated metabolic shifts, cardiovascular risk, bone decline, immune changes and even cognitive ageing. Researchers now call ovarian ageing a “silent catalyst” for systemic ageing. As a Naturopath when I see signs of ovarian ageing it’s time to come in with support, nutrients and lifestyle tweaks to strengthen the body when it’s needed most.

For this reason, the timing of menopause is a signal you don’t want to ignore: it reflects processes going on in your body that are asking for support now, to allow you to age with health and vitality later.

Key Biomarkers You Can Track for Ovarian and hormonal health

Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) and FSH

These clinical markers help estimate ovarian reserve. AMH in particular is widely used to indicate how many viable eggs remain and how your ovaries are ageing. Low AMH—especially before menopause—can imply earlier onset of reproductive decline. For some women this can begin occurring well before menopause, so it’s an important one to keep in your mind if you are having early signs of hormonal decline.

Epigenetic & Telomere Biomarkers

DNA methylation patterns (the so-called “epigenetic clock”) and telomere length indicate cellular ageing. These are fancy words, but basically studies have been showing that women experiencing early menopause are biologically older at a cellular level, with accelerated ageing up to around 6 percent faster than women who experience menopause within the normal age range.

Mitochondrial & Genetic Signals

Recent research has also identified mitochondrial gene variants—such as NSUN4—and DNA‑damage repair genes that can significantly influence ovarian ageing. When we combine this information with your overall genetic report and current state of health, it gives me as your Naturopath a clear picture of where and how your body needs support right now.

Inflammatory Biomarkers (Inflamm‑aging)

Chronic low-grade inflammation often goes hand-in-hand with early ovarian ageing. This chronic long term state of inflammation is called ‘inflammaging’, because it causes the ageing process to be drastically increased, prodded on by the presence of smouldering and unrelenting inflammation. None of this sounds amazing, but there are some practical things you can do which we will discuss below.

Why should you care about these biomarkers?

Tracking these biomarkers—alongside cardiovascular and metabolic markers—gives you valuable and early insight into potential future challenges. These include things like your heart health, bone loss risk, insulin resistance level, dementia risk and much more.

By knowing where your ovarian reserve is headed before menopause arrives, you can:

• Optimise your bone density and minimise fracture risk

• Support cardiovascular resilience and the way your body metabolises fats

• Manage insulin sensitivity and your risk of developing diabetes

• Prioritise cognitive health and memory

•  Improve mitochondrial health and therefore your energy

Practical Steps: What You Can Do Now to help your body age well

1. Talk to your doctor or Naturopath about ovarian reserve testing

You can request AMH and FSH testing. This is especially relevant if you’re in your late 30s or 40s, to get a clearer picture of your reproductive and overall ageing processes.

2. Get full blood work done at the same time

Include your cholesterol levels, hs‑CRP (inflammatory marker), fasting insulin and thyroid panels in your routine blood tests. If you need assistance with this please ask me in clinic, as I can order all of these tests for you privately.

3. Nutrition, movement and stress support

These lifestyle factors are KEY to healthy ageing, both of your ovaries and of your whole body!

Food is a truly powerful ally when it comes to preventing and treating inflammation and accelerated ageing in your body. Yes, it’s truly that powerful! The best way of eating is to base your diet on wholefood principals, eating food the way that nature intended it to be eaten and cutting out all processed foods.

Exercise is also important. Include weight-bearing and strength training exercises as a part of your weekly routine, alongside gentle and rejuvenating practices that not only move your body but help reduce stress. Adequate sleep is also a key part of a healthy ageing and anti-inflammatory routine.

These are all things that I guide and support you with in clinic, so that you don’t feel overwhelmed and have a clear roadmap to follow.

Exploring ovarian ageing biomarkers isn’t about fertility panic or timelines—it’s about giving yourself foresight so that you can act now to protect your health for years to come.

If your biological markers show ahead-of-age trajectories, this is your prompt to:

• Prioritise cardiovascular and bone support now

• Tweak your lifestyle to support stress management and hormone health sooner rather than later

• Make choices with awareness and not stress or because of ill health

We do this together in clinic, and I always provide you with the information you need to make informed choices for your health.

In Summary

Ovarian ageing doesn’t just mark the end of fertility; it’s a powerful early indicator of systemic ageing that offers a clear window to act in support of your long term health. When your body shows early signs of ageing it’s actually asking for support. When we combine this information with your other test results and health screen information you are able to switch from a reactive state of healthcare to a proactive one. Supporting your body now with the right nutrients, movement, dietary and lifestyle tweaks supports your long-term vitality, mobility, clarity and health span, which is what we are all about here!