Menopause

We have heard so much about hormone replacement therapy and medications for menopausal symptoms. While these may both help you, there is a much simpler way to help with some of the menopause discomforts: good healthy eating. Now more than ever, it is important to know what your body needs to function at its full potential.

You may hear about all sorts of diets available and for every good one you will find a not so good one. Because weight gain is a symptom of menopause, many women get concerned and feel that they need to diet in order to stay attractive. The most important thing is to eat healthy. A good healthy diet will help alleviate many of the menopause symptoms you may have. Go back to the basic food groups and you can't go wrong. Remember to include all of these:

• Grains and Carbohydrates
• Proteins and Protein Alternatives
• Dairy products
• Fats
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Fish

Do not consume an excess of fats, carbohydrates or proteins in your diet, but do be sure to include them. Try to eat at least three meals a day along with some healthy snacks. It is recommended that everybody eats "at least 3 meals" because you may be an eater with a small appetite, in which case, you should eat a number of small meals each day. It's definitely a case where the quality of the food you eat is more important than the quantity. There are also some foods you many want to avoid if you are experiencing some discomforting symptoms.

Hot flashes, specifically night sweats, can be helped by avoiding the following:

• Coffee
• Tea
• Cola
• Spicy foods
• Refined sugars (corn syrup & sugar found in highly processed foods)

Eating a healthy diet can be quite a help to your mood if you suffer from any sort of depression. Depression during menopause is usually caused by the variation and fluctuation of hormones in your body. Eating carbohydrates such as bagels, wheat bread and cereals can help with this problem.

If weight gain is a problem or a concern, try using olive oil or canola oil instead of saturated fats and try broiling or grilling your food instead of frying. This will also help lower your risk for heart disease or clogged arteries. The supermarkets today offer a huge variety of low fat foods that are delicious as well as economical and your local library will have many cookbooks to help you to eat healthy, as well as the internet.

Because of the lowered estrogen level brought on by menopause, post-menopausal women are at a higher risk for osteoporosis and heart disease. For this reason, it is extremely important to eat healthy. Women in menopause should be getting 1200 to 1500 grams of calcium each day. Drink milk or soy milk daily, if possible. For those that aren't milk drinkers, you can get juices that contain your daily requirement of calcium as well. Other good foods for calcium are cheese, sardines, figs and leafy green vegetables. Keep in mind that caffeine makes it difficult for the body to absorb some nutrients and especially protein properly.

There are so many healthy and delicious foods available today that even the fussiest eaters are catered for. This means that women of menopausal age have no reason not to eat a healthy, well balanced diet.

Menopause And Diet |