Menopause Diet: Healthy Eating and the Impact on Your Symptoms
For women, midlife can be a hormonal roller coaster. But guess what? One big way to help manage this transition is a good menopause diet.
“A woman’s pattern of eating, especially during the menopausal transition, can have an impact on hormones,” says Maya Feller, MS, RD, CDN, and member of the MyFitnessPal Scientific Advisory Council.
A healthy nutrition plan for women can make a huge difference in how you feel during menopause and can even help manage some of the frustrating symptoms.
Understanding How Menopause Impacts Your Body
Menopause is marked by not having a menstrual period for one full year. It’s a natural transition that typically happens around age 51.
But many women start feeling symptoms earlier, during the time of hormonal upheaval known as perimenopause.
Perimenopause can start as early as your mid-30s and bring symptoms like hot flashes, mood swings, and low energy. Estrogen drops throughout this time, and decreased estrogen can impact your bones, muscle mass, and metabolism.
Menopause and weight gain
In your 40s or 50s, you might notice that your favorite jeans feel a bit snug, even if your eating habits haven’t changed. Weight gain during this time of life is common.
“There’s often a lot of guilt about this because people feel that their bodies should look a particular way,” says Feller. Women blame themselves for the weight gain. But according to Feller, they shouldn’t. “These body composition shifts could be a result of hormonal shifts.”
