Denise van Outen says golf has "really helped" her deal with perimenopausal anxiety.
Denise van Outen
The 45-year-old actress believes the sport can be a great activity to help how women of a certain age "feel mentally", after admitting she suffered from "hormone-related" anxiety last year as a result of being perimenopausal - when a woman's ovaries make less oestrogen several years before menopause - and she found golf has "calmed" her.
She said: "I absolutely love it. It's a good way to keep fit. It's also really good for, for women of certain age, how you feel mentally as well.
"You need something to focus on, it gets you moving.
"I had a little spate last year of suffering a little bit with anxiety, which was hormone-related. I felt golf really helped me.
"It calmed me a little bit. It gives you a bit of confidence as well."
The former 'Big Breakfast' presenter now has a natural hormone replacement after her doctor told her to take a hormone test last year.
She said: "I went to get checked [for a hormone test], and then everything just made sense. When I sat there and I got the results I sat in the chair and I cried. I was like, 'I'm not going crazy.'
"It came out of the blue for me, because I'm perimenopausal. I have natural hormone replacement.
"I feel so much better. I'm trying to approach a healthier lifestyle. I'm exercising a lot more, and not too much alcohol."
Denise has been rolling back the years by hanging out with her old showbiz pals, such as Boyzone, on the golf course - rather than "falling out of nightclubs" in the early hours.
Speaking on 'Lorraine', she added: "I call it clubbing for the middle-aged.
"All my friends who I've known from meeting in the industry over the years, like all the Boyzone lot, they all play golf, and a lot of the rugby players and footballers.
"We used to be falling out of clubs at like three or four in the morning.
"Now, we're all in the 19th hole, in the bar after playing a round of golf. It's daytime socialising."
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