How we build our recipes
You should know exactly how the food on this site gets made and checked, including the parts most food sites gloss over. Here it is, start to finish.
The framework comes from published research
Everything starts with a nutrition framework built from peer-reviewed studies, systematic reviews and public clinical guidance: NICE's menopause guideline (NG23), the British Menopause Society's resources, the American Heart Association's statement on the menopause transition, and the trial evidence on protein, phytoestrogens, fibre, omega-3s, calcium and vitamin D. The full bibliography is public, on our references page, with a note on what we use each source for.
Recipes are developed and analysed with AI assistance
We use AI tools to develop recipes against that framework and to produce the nutritional analysis on every recipe page: protein, fibre, key micronutrients and the symptom tags that drive the planner. We're telling you this plainly because you deserve to know, and because it's the honest answer to how a small team publishes 550 recipes where every one explains its own evidence. The framework the AI works from is human-built and research-sourced; the AI doesn't invent claims, it applies rules we can show you.
Every claim links to its source
Each recipe carries a "Why this works" panel connecting its ingredients to the research: not "balances your hormones", but "trials associate two daily servings of soy with modestly fewer hot flushes". If a claim can't be traced to the references list, it doesn't go on the site; if you find one that slipped through, tell us and we'll cite it or cut it.
What we don't have, and don't claim
There is currently no dietitian or clinician on the Peri Happy team, so you won't see "dietitian-reviewed" anywhere on this site. We describe mechanisms and cite trials; we don't diagnose, treat or promise. Food supports this life stage, it doesn't treat it, and nothing here replaces your GP, a menopause specialist or a registered dietitian. When we do bring clinical reviewers on board, this page will name them.
The numbers we publish are counted, not rounded up
When the homepage says 550 recipes, there are 550 recipes. When it says 281 are ready in 30 minutes or less, that's the count from our recipe database, and the sources-cited figure is the length of the references list on the day we last updated it. If a number on this site can't be checked, we shouldn't be publishing it.
Questions we haven't answered?
If there's anything about how we work you'd like explained, ask via our contact page. For the reading that shaped our thinking beyond the journals, see further reading.