Menopause can be an intense experience for women as they navigate hormonal changes and fluctuations and the various symptoms that come with it. Here are some ways to manage menopausal symptoms.
Diet
A holistic, sustaining approach to menopause begins with choosing a diet of nutrient-rich whole foods.
Eating a diet abundant in quality meats, fruits, and vegetables can set a foundation to deeply nourish the body, reduce inflammation, prevent bone loss, and avoid excess weight gain.
Vital Nutrients and Where to Find Them:
- Omega-3s: wild-caught salmon, grass-fed meats, chia seed oil, and flaxseed oil.
- B vitamins: root vegetables such as carrots, beets, and radishes; leafy greens such as kale, spinach, and chard; fresh or dried fruits, avocados, and seafood.
- Vitamin D: grass-fed or pasture-raised meat, organ meats, egg yolks, cod liver oil, wild mushrooms, fatty fish, spirulina, and bee pollen.
- Amino acids: collagen from grass-fed cows, sardines, and pastured eggs.
- Magnesium: seaweed, figs, bananas, avocado, and dark leafy greens.
- Selenium: turkey, liver, red meat, garlic, and spinach.
- Iron: organ meats, dark leafy greens, shellfish, and red meat.
- Zinc: grass-fed beef, lamb, and oysters.
- Healthy fats: avocados, butter, or ghee from grass-fed cows, coconut oil, coconut butter, and quality olive oil.
- Quality proteins: grass-fed or pasture-raised meats and wild-caught fish.
- Fiber: vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, beets, and cauliflower.
Consume Hormone-Balancing Foods
A diet that includes hormone-balancing foods such as the following is crucial to keeping menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes, night sweats, and fatigue, at bay.
- Cranberries: help combat urinary tract infections that can occur because of decreased estrogen levels.
- Cherries: help increase melatonin levels, resulting in higher quality sleep.
- Maca root: contains glucosinolates, which signal the body to produce balanced levels of hormones and help regulate estrogen levels, potentially minimizing hot flashes.
- Passionflower: can soothe hot flashes and night sweats, insomnia, depression, mood swings, and headaches.
- Leafy greens: can ease insomnia and improve overall symptoms.
- Motherwort: can ease hot flashes and anxiety, is a tonic for the heart, and can help prevent menopausal weight gain.
- Shatavari: known in Ayurveda as the “female rejuvenator,” contains phytoestrogens, a plant-based form of estrogen that can alleviate the hot, dry aspects of menopause.
Repair the Gut
An imbalance in the gut flora, known as dysbiosis, can exacerbate hormonal imbalances during menopause and may be accompanied by infections such as candida, which is an overgrowth of yeast, and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.
These gut conditions can lead to increased inflammation, which blocks the body’s ability to absorb nutrients and balance hormones efficiently. They can also be exacerbated by hormonal fluctuations, causing a chain reaction resulting in increased negative symptoms.
Reducing inflammation and ensuring that the body can properly absorb nutrients will improve overall health and help manage menopause symptoms.
Remove Inflammatory Foods
One of the first and most effective steps toward a cleaner, more nutrient-dense diet is removing processed foods and refined sugars, which are often to blame for fluctuating blood sugar levels.
Keeping blood sugar stable is crucial for navigating menopause. Blood sugar spikes can affect mood and cause irritability and are associated with depression. Similarly, consuming a diet high in processed foods has been correlated with poor bone health in women ages 50 to 59.
Avoiding spicy foods, alcohol, sugary foods, and caffeine may keep hot flashes, night sweats, and mood swings in check. Any food to which one is sensitive should be avoided; if multiple food sensitivities are identified, an elimination diet is worth considering to help reduce inflammation and identify what’s triggering symptoms.
Consider Bone Health
The drastic hormonal changes and fluctuations a woman’s body goes through during menopause can negatively affect bone health. This leads to weaker bones and an increased risk of osteoporosis.
Food and supplements to boost bone health:
- Vitamin D: Get out in the sunlight daily for as much time as possible. Supplementation under the guidance of a health care provider may be necessary. If you choose to supplement, make sure you have adequate magnesium and vitamin K2 for proper calcium absorption.
- Cod liver oil: This supplement contains a good balance of vitamins D, A, and K2.
- Calcium: Grass-fed dairy is one of the best sources of calcium. Make sure that no hormones were involved in the production of the dairy, as that will negatively affect female hormones.
Methylation
Methylation is a chemical reaction that cells perform constantly throughout the body for countless tasks, and it’s crucial to the production of neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, dopamine, adrenaline, norepinephrine, and melatonin. If this integral and vital process isn’t optimized, the female body won’t properly process estrogen and other important hormones, and the ability to clear and recycle hormones will be impaired.
Methylation helps the body clear estrogen down the 2-hydroxy pathway (2OHE1), and problems arise when estrogen is cleared from the body down the 16aOHE1 and 4OHE1 pathways. This pathway of estrogen clearance can exacerbate menopausal symptoms and predispose women to breast cancer and other endocrine-based cancers. A skilled health care provider can examine one’s methylation status and genetic variants and provide guidance to support one’s unique physiology.
Sleep
A regular sleep schedule or routine can support a balanced mood, a healthy weight, and low stress levels. Seven to eight hours of sleep at night will support overall health and reduce the symptoms of menopause.
Tips to establish life-enhancing sleep rhythms:
- Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
- Drink a cup of chamomile or another soothing herbal tea before bed.
- Don’t use a phone or watch TV for at least an hour before bed—read a book, meditate, or listen to music instead.
- Try adding a few drops of lavender essential oil to a warm bath before bed.
- Keep lights dim in the hours before bed.
- Avoid caffeine and alcohol later in the day.
Exercise
Staying active is one of the best ways to support the body and manage symptoms during menopause. Walking 20 minutes per day can be extremely beneficial physically and encourage relaxation. Strength training and yoga are enormously helpful for bone health during menopause and beyond.
Regular exercise a few times per week can promote many health benefits, such as healthier bones and joints, improved sleep quality, lower stress levels, and decreased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, osteoporosis, diabetes, and stroke.
Improve Mood
Mood changes are a common experience during menopause. Practicing stress-reduction and relaxation techniques such as deep-breathing exercises, full-body stretching, massage, and cranial-sacral facial work can encourage peace and calm when experiencing mood fluctuations.
Consider working with a health care practitioner to supplement with St. John’s wort, passionflower, or vitamin B6, and always discuss any mood concerns to help identify the root cause.
Supplements for Menopausal Symptoms
At times, supplementing with additional herbs and vitamins can fill the gaps that diet and other efforts have left. As always, consult with a health care provider before supplementing.
- Black cohosh: may help reduce the frequency of hot flashes, specifically when combined with St. John’s wort.
- Dong quai: has been shown to reduce the frequency and intensity of hot flashes and night sweats and increase sleep quality.
- Evening primrose oil: may assist in increasing bone mineral density.
- Turmeric: is an anti-inflammatory that modulates the immune system and may help with managing hot flashes and reducing joint pain.
- Resveratrol: may help boost blood flow in the brain, improve cognitive function, and reduce brain fog.
- Glutathione or N-acetyl cysteine: can provide antioxidant support, alleviating oxidative stress.
Menopause is a normal, natural stage of a woman’s life, and although it comes with many hormonal changes, women can go through it with strength and ease.
Following these holistic diet and lifestyle methods can significantly improve menopausal symptoms. As with any health issue, working with a trained practitioner to assess body chemistry, test hormone levels, and consider any other underlying factors can be a valuable step in navigating menopause.
