Menopausal Diet
6 foods that can make your menopause worse
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During the menopause, the hormonal balance and thus the body of women change. Certain foods can make menopausal symptoms worse, so avoid them.
Menopause, also known medically as climacteric, occurs in most women between the ages of 45 and 55. Some feel little of it other than a missed period, but many women suffer severely from the symptoms. Typical symptoms include hot flashes and sweats, insomnia, mood swings and a racing heart. The risk of a heart attack also increases during this time because the estrogen level drops.
Some foods can make these menopausal symptoms worse – so eat them in moderation, if at all, to keep the symptoms at bay.
These 6 foods can make menopausal symptoms worse
1. Too much alcohol
The fact that alcohol should be consumed in moderation is of course not limited to the period of menopause. But because too many drinks can cause hot flashes, insomnia, and mood swings, extra care should be taken during menopause if you don’t want to aggravate these symptoms. So it is better to drink less or even to abstain from alcohol for a while if it helps.
2. Too much caffeine
The same applies to coffee, black tea and the like: Caffeine – at least in large quantities – promotes inner restlessness, sleep disorders and can also promote hot flashes. How much caffeine we can tolerate, regardless of menopause, varies greatly from person to person. So if you have already reacted sensitively to coffee before, it is advisable to use it very moderately during this phase and not to drink anything after 4 p.m.
3. Spicy foods
Chilli, pepper, and other hot spices should also be consumed with caution if you suffer from menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes. Because the body’s natural reaction to spicy food is, exactly, heat.
4. Too much salt
Another uncomfortable symptom of menopause can be water retention. If this affects you, you should make sure that your diet is not too salty. Because salt can promote water retention. In addition to salting when cooking, you should be careful not to eat too many ready-made meals, as these are often particularly heavily salted.
5. Fast food & sweets
Fast food such as french fries, burgers and the like, as well as many snacks such as chips and granola bars, contain a lot of sugar and trans fats. The latter are harmful saturated fatty acids that can promote the health-threatening abdominal fat – and this danger already exists due to the slowed metabolism during menopause. This increases the risk of cardiovascular and vascular diseases.
6. Raw food
Raw food is supposed to be harmful? That may sound counterintuitive at first, but raw foods are actually more difficult to digest than cooked ones. And the falling estrogen levels during menopause make the bowels more sensitive. With raw vegetables we only make his work unnecessarily harder than with steamed vegetables, for example. Perhaps it can also be enough not to eat raw foods such as fruit or salad in the evening so as not to overwhelm your digestion at night.
Sources used: National Institute on Aging (US Department of Health & Human Services), ugb.de, vital.de