Twelve great nutrition tips for a perimenopausal woman
You need to ‘do you’ when it comes to nutrition, but these twelve tips can be really helpful to consider for a perimenopausal woman who wants to support her brain, heart, bone and muscular health as she ages. They can also help manage symptoms of hormone change.
These 12 tips are inspired by Marilyn Glenville’s book, Natural Solutions to Menopause, but there’s plenty more to say on each of these and how you might apply them to your life.
1. Include hormone balancing phytoestrogens in your diet.
It's thought that these can help balance hormones in your body and include three different kinds of phytoestrogens
Isoflavones: found in legumes such as soya, chickpeas and lentils
Lignans: Highest amount in flaxseeds, but also in sesame and sunflower seeds, cereals such as rice, oats and wheat, and vegetables such as carrots and broccoli
Coumestans: found in sprouted mung and alfalfa beans
Personally, I add a tablespoon of ground flaxseed to my morning smoothie, porridge or even lunchtime soup which seems to make a difference to the itchy skin I can be prone to pre-menstrually.
2. Eat more Omega 3 fatty acids
In the last century there has been an 80 per cent decrease in the consumption of Omega 3 fatty acids (found in oily fish such as mackerel, sardines and salmon as well as linseeds/flaxseeds). Omega 3 fatty acids are powerful anti inflammatories as well as being important for brain, joint and skin health.
3. Increase your intake of fruit and vegetables.
Fruit and vegetables are anti-ageing foods – in that they contain antioxidants to mop up all the damaging free radicals that are produced as a result of our bodies' functions. The aim is to eat a variety of fruit and veg – with the emphasis on the veg.
4. Change from refined carbohydrates to unrefined ones.
Carbohydrate doesn't just include starching carbohydrates like rice and pasta, bread and potatoes but fruit and vegetables are also carbohydrates. Unrefined carbohydrates provide more nutrients and release energy more slowly so avoiding the blood sugar swings that can affect your mood too.
5. Buy organic foods where possible.
They are likely to contain more valuable nutrients and have less exposure to xenoestrogens, chemicals and pollutants that increase the toxic load on your body. There's a theory if you're going to just buy some things organic start with the smallest items as they absorb more pesticides (wheat, berries, rice, oats), but also the more delicate produce is, the more likely it is to have been sprayed multiple times (lettuce, berries etc)
6. Reduce your intake of saturated fat.
Found in animal fats, palm oil and coconut oil. Not quite the devil they were made out to be in terms of cholesterol, but can boost the level of oestrogen in your blood as well as inflammation. The real bad guy is trans fat – which is found in processed foods like cake, biscuits and margarines. But many countries have now banned these from foods.
7. Make sure you drink enough fluids.
Water being the best fluid of course. It helps the body transport nutrients, with detox processes and in weight management. Dehydration can cause you to lose concentration and feel tired or mistake thirst for hunger. How much to drink? General recommendation is 8 glasses of water a day (about 1.5 litres) but with exercise or if you drink caffeinated or fizzy drinks, exercise or travel by plane you should actually increase the water as these are dehydrating. Fruit teas or a slice of lemon or cucumber in your water can help make increasing the water consumption more palatable.
8. Increase your intake of fibre.
You need a combination of insoluble (vegetables and whole grains) and soluble(fruit and oats) fibre to help with digestion and mop up cholesterol and even oestrogen.
9. Eliminate foods containing chemicals from your diet.
Have a look at food labels. The more man made chemicals are in your food, the harder your body has to work to deal with them. It's better to allow your body to prioritise the processes it needs for maintaining hormone balance.
10. Avoid or reduce caffeine intake
I love my cup of tea in the morning, but I also recognise that it has an impact on my stress levels and it definitely has an impact on menopausal symptoms. It causes a quick rise in blood sugar so contributes to blood sugar swings and can leave you drained of energy later in the day. Tannin in tea also blocks the absorption of minerals from your food so try and avoid drinking it with meals.
11. Reduce or eliminate alcohol.
Alcohol is a diuretic, so can leave you dehydrated. It can block the conversion of essential fatty acids and it has a big impact on the processes being carried out by the liver as the liver has to break it down. The liver helps balance blood sugar, produces clotting substances in the blood, metabolises fat, produces cholesterol. It's good to take a complete break every now and then (about 4 weeks) and then drink in moderation (have a really good bottle of wine and just drink one glass – it's a challenge but it's usually the first glass that we enjoy the most!). I find I just don’t process it as well as I used to.
12. Avoid or reduce refined sugar.
This can have a BIG impact on health and hormonal balance. It carries no nutritional benefit and creates a domino effect on many organs and systems in the body.
It can contribute to feelings of tiredness, mood swings, anxiety, headaches, dizziness, palpitations, forgetfulness, weight gain around the middle, low libido, high cholesterol, thyroid, Type 2 diabetes, stress. If you're struggling with anxiety sugar can have a big impact on the body.
This is the one I find the hardest - sugar creeps back in when I’m stressed or tired, but actually adds to my feeling of exhaustion in the long run!
Want to find out more about applying these to tips to real life? Join me in my workshop on how nutrition and gut health can support your perimenopause experience on 24 May 2024. More information and booking via the button below.