Simple Nutrition Tips for Symptom Relief
Written by: Sarah Moloney
There are many factors that influence the amount and choice of food we eat. In addition, the nutritional needs of our body change as we progress through life and scientists are only beginning to learn how nutrition can help with perimenopausal symptoms. Couple this with the endless wheel of pills, potions and quick fix diets and we are left confused and disheartened. Focusing in on symptoms and improving overall health can be a great place to start.
As discussed in my previous blog piece, weight gain can be a concern during perimenopause. However, long term changes to our overall dietary pattern or food habits have been shown to prevent weight gain in menopause, especially around our mid-section. Importantly, crash diets and extreme measures such as very low calorie diets are NOT recommended. These can exacerbate symptoms such as stress, anxiety, fatigue, and low mood. What you CAN do is take a gentle approach:
Work on your relationship with food, refrain from labelling food as good or bad! It has no moral value. This can help you stop rewarding yourself with “bad” foods for being “good” or beating yourself up if you feel you have overdone the “bad”. Great news folks, all food has nutritional value, and can have a place in our diet. It exists on a spectrum; we need more of some and less of others.
Instead of focusing on cutting down or removing food groups, try adding nutrient rich foods to each meal/snack so that you have a balanced, satiating meal. For example, adding one to two portions of fruit and/or vegetables (pre-cut, fresh, frozen, or canned in its own juice) to your main meals each day, ramps up vitamin intake, helping prevent nutrient deficiencies and fatigue. It will also increase your fibre intake - we need 21-25g/day. This can reduce bloating and the risk of developing heart disease and cancer. See the table below for some additions to your daily diet that will boost your intake:
Adding a palm sized protein source to each meal can help you feel full for a longer time after eating and reduce muscle loss when paired with exercise. This is incredibly important as our protein needs to increase as we age. Sources are lean meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy, beans, legumes & soy products.
The brains preferred source of energy is glucose – whilst brain fog and disturbed sleep may have us reaching for more high sugar foods than we used to, make sure we have adequate carbohydrates at each meal - think potatoes, rice, wholegrains, sweet potatoes, and legumes (hello fibre!) that can help those cravings and give us energy. Do keep some space for the occasional treat that nourishes your soul as well as your body.
Keeping saturated fats such as cakes, biscuits, pastries, butter, fatty red meats, coconut products within our daily range is important (10% of daily kcals) – we need them, but in small amounts. Increase consumption of oily fish, olive oil, avocado, nuts, and seeds instead and keep that heart healthy as you transition through menopause.
For bone density – include calcium rich foods such as dairy, leafy greens, fortified cereal, or soy products.
Speaking of soy – phytoestrogens could help alleviate symptoms of hot flashes. Hot flashes and night sweats can be the reason sleep quality is poor and when sleep suffers, everything suffers. Phytoestrogens are found in beans and lentils, soy, and flax. Including 25-50g of these compounds which equals a cup of soy milk/edamame beans or 20g of tofu, on a regular basis can be an option if you are having sleep disrupting hot flashes.
If you are experiencing hot flashes, sleep disturbances, depression and/or anxiety it might be worthwhile looking at both your caffeine and alcohol intake. Caffeine has been linked to increased hot flashes, anxiety, and poor sleep quality, it could help to reduce your intake and have your last cup around midday. This gives your body plenty of time to clear it from your system. Alcohol is a known depressant and can leave you feeling incredibly anxious the day after the night before. What you may not realise is it disrupts sleep cycles, preventing you from healing deep sleep and this is the last thing our perimenopausal bodies and minds need!
If we apply these strategies to our diet, combined with an awareness as to what we are consuming (journalling can be great here) and a little bit of preparation when doing our meal planning/shopping we could see long term changes that both benefit our health and alleviate perimenopausal symptoms. It is always a good idea to speak to a nutritionist/dietician for personalised advice when it comes to your diet. Next month we will look at increasing fitness and strength as another tool for your perimenopausal toolbox.