High calorie foods
Unfortunately, in today’s world the high calorie foods we gravitate to aren’t always the healthiest options, especially during menopause. Let’s look at how food choices affect your menopause, and how you should be eating this winter.
Menopause is a natural part of the ageing process that all women will experience. A period of transition and hormonal changes, it generally starts in your 40s and continues for a few years, until your period has been absent for 12 months. While most women will inevitably experience some menopause symptoms the severity of them differs from person to person. Interestingly some common symptoms can be lessened by paying attention to how you are fuelling your body, especially over winter.
First, let’s take a look at the relationship between your diet and menopause.
During menopause your muscle mass reduces, meaning you need fewer calories to fuel your body. Hormone fluctuations also change your metabolism and can affect your cholesterol levels and your ability to digest carbohydrates effectively. If you carry on eating as you did before menopause, you will begin to gain weight and experience health concerns you might not have had to worry about before you entered this new phase of your life. Maintaining a healthy weight is important for a number of reasons. Weight gain increases your risk of respiratory issues, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and type 2 diabetes.
Beyond weight gain, your diet can also trigger hot flushes and make other menopause symptoms such as fatigue and gastro-intestinal issues feel worse.
It is important to watch portion sizes and prioritise nutrient dense calorie sources. Simply eating less is not the right thing to do, as your menopausal body needs to get a variety of vitamins and minerals to stay healthy. A healthy diet should consist mostly of fruit and vegetables, wholegrains, legumes and lean proteins. So, what does this look like in winter?
Fruit and vegetables:
Studies have shown that menopausal women who eat more fruit and vegetables experience less severe menopausal symptoms. Seasonal fruit and vegetables are packed full of the necessary vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibre needed to keep you healthy. Choosing fruit and vegetables that are currently in season means that they have recently been harvested and are at their peak freshness. While many supermarkets carry all fresh produce all year round, the ability to do this means importing the produce or keeping it in cold storage for long periods of time. This will impact the quality and nutritional value of the food.
In winter, citrus fruits, green leafy vegetables, broccoli and cauliflower, and root vegetables are in season. Hormonal changes experienced during menopause lowers your natural immunity, meaning you are at a higher risk of catching a cold than before. Citrus fruits and cruciferous vegetables (such as broccoli cauliflower and cabbage) are full of Vitamin C, which helps to support your immune system. Leafy vegetables like spinach are a good source of calcium, a crucial mineral for bone health and preventing osteoporosis.
For mineral supplementation and to support your body’s pH regulating mechanisms, try A.Vogel Multiforce.
Avoid hot flush triggers
In winter we often eat more spicy foods and hot meals. Spicy foods are common hot flush and night sweat triggers. Hot meals and hot drinks can also cause our internal thermostat to overreact and trigger hot flushes. Too much caffeine has been proven to make hot flushes more severe, so switch out that second and third cup of coffee for a herbal tea instead. Unfortunately, alcohol is another hot flush trigger, so if you find that you’re battling with hot flushes and night sweats, it might be time to give up your evening glass of wine.
Watch your salt intake
With comforting bowls of soups, stews and curries comes salt. While our bodies do need a certain amount of salt to function properly, we only need about one or two teaspoonfuls every day to for proper fluid balance, nerve and muscle function. Most of us are actually getting about double that amount.
Research has shown that during menopause, women become more sensitive to salt. Salt can cause water retention and raise your blood pressure. This not only impacts your cardiovascular health, but can also put strain on your kidneys and brain.
Too much salt can also cause dehydration, which is known to have a hand in common menopause symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats, heart palpitations, joint pain and headaches. Dehydration also contributes to constipation and bloating.
Use salt sparingly when cooking, and try to switch to other seasonings like herbs and spices to add flavour to your dishes. Processed foods tend to have a very high salt content so try to avoid them as much as possible.
Limit sugar
We all tend to reach for the biscuits, rusks and other sugary treats and baked goods during winter, and it’s because our brains are programmed to do it. Sugar triggers a dopamine release which makes consuming it a pleasurable, and even addictive, experience. Unfortunately, when you eat sugary treats, you’re eating empty calories, which contributes to weight gain but adds no nutritional value.
It is important to limit your sugar intake, as too much sugar can make your menopause symptoms worse, and cause other even more serious problems, like heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes and kidney disease. Eating too much sugar and refined carbohydrates (sorry pasta lovers!) can contribute to feelings of fatigue, something which menopausal women already battle with.
Make healthy substitutions
There’s no need to deprive yourself of your favourite comfort foods during winter, but there are some ways you can make them healthier. Soup is a great way to pack extra vegetables into your diet, but instead of cream, use plant substitutes like coconut milk, or choose recipes that use low-sodium stock as the liquid base. Choose lean protein like chicken for stews instead of beef or lamb, or skip the meat completely and make a plant-based version with mushrooms, butternut and beans instead.
If the idea of drinking cold water during the winter months doesn’t sound appealing, meet your daily hydration goals with warm water infused with lemon and ginger instead of other hot drinks.
Remember that there’s nothing wrong with the occasional treat, so have that bowl of pasta or chocolate chip biscuit every now and again, but watch those portion sizes!
To help pack your meals full of healthy flavour this winter, we recommend trying out the A.Vogel range of stocks and seasonings.
To support menopause symptoms in general consider these A.Vogel products:
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A.Vogel Menoforce Hot Flush and Night Sweat Remedy Made from freshly harvested, organic sage. It is a herbal medicine that does not contain oestrogen or have an oestrogen-like action. It is used for the supportive treatment of menopausal syndrome and associated hot flushes and night sweats, and for the supportive treatment of hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating). Therapeutic indications in menopausal women are:
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Menopause Formula is a homeopathic medicine which assists with the acute treatment, and symptomatic support, of symptoms associated with menopause, such as headaches, sleep problems, low libido, hot flushes, as well as mood changes such as anxiety, depression and irritability. |
References and further reading:
- British Heart Foundation (no date) 7 top tips for healthy eating this winter, BHF. Available at: https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/nutrition/healthy-eating-winter-tips (Accessed: 23 May 2024).
- Brown, S. (2023) The health benefits of seasonal eating, according to Dietitians, Verywell Health. Available at: https://www.verywellhealth.com/health-benefits-of-seasonal-eating-7973496 (Accessed: 23 May 2024).
- Cleveland Clinic (2024) Menopause diet: What to eat to help manage symptoms, Cleveland Clinic. Available at: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/menopause-diet (Accessed: 23 May 2024).
- Durward, E. (2020) 3 Ways Too Much Salt Can Impact Your Menopause, A.Vogel Talks Menopause. Available at: https://www.avogel.co.uk/health/menopause/videos/3-ways-too-much-salt-can-impact-your-menopause (Accessed: 23 May 2024).
- Menopause, sugar and alcohol: All you need to know (no date) DrinkWell. Available at: https://drinkwelluk.com/blogs/news/menopause-sugar-and-alcohol-all-you-need-to-know (Accessed: 23 May 2024).
- Owen, A. (2024) Perimenopause Diet: What to eat for your weight and health, Perimenopause Diet: What To Eat For Your Weight and Health. Available at: https://zoe.com/learn/perimenopause-diet (Accessed: 23 May 2024).
- Webb, I. (2018) Seasonal fruit and vegetable chart for South Africa, Seasonal fruit and vegetable chart for South Africa Food Home Magazine. Available at: https://www.foodandhome.co.za/how-to/seasonal-fruit-and-vegetable-chart-for-south-africa (Accessed: 23 May 2024).
