Menopause can be a transformative experience for a woman, but the myriad of signs and features can be anything from inconvenient to completely disruptive. The most common signs include hot flashes and night sweats, sleep disruption, reduced sex drive, memory and concentration problems, mood changes, headaches, and aches and pains.
These can last on average about four years from our last period. Of course, signs and features can vary from woman to woman – which we experience, how intense and how long they last.
Interestingly, these experiences not only vary from woman to woman but also culture to culture.
For example, previous studies looking at menopause symptoms across the globe have shown that women in Japan have fewer signs of menopause. The standard diet in Japan at the time had relatively little meat, essentially no dairy and was high in fiber.
The researchers explored if there could be a cultural explanation other than diet for the low levels of menopause experiences. For example, could it be that the women in Japan simply did not report them, but this did not seem to be the case.
Now this study was done more than 30 years ago and the Japanese diet has changed since then, becoming more westernized – more meat, dairy and processed foods. And…yes, you’ve guessed it, reported signs of menopause have gone up, along with rates of chronic disease such as heart disease.
This is not the only place where diet has been linked to signs of menopause. The same or similar findings have been found in China and parts of South America – and as those places began to adopt a more western diet, signs of menopause (and risk of chronic disease) has gone up.
It seems that in societies where the diet is mostly plant-based, the women seem to transition into menopause more easily. There are of course also cultural and societal differences as they relate to the perception of aging, but diet seems to play a significant role.
This is not surprising really as diet is a key underlying factor of health and well-being overall. Based on the research, top-line recommendations include:
- Increase whole plant foods in your diet: vegetables, fruits, legumes (beans, lentils, chickpeas, soy products), intact or whole grains, and nuts and seeds
- Reduce or eliminate meat and dairy
- Reduce processed foods
- Reduce or eliminate alcohol
What this looks like precisely will vary from person to person based on preferences and environment. However, below are just a few, more specific recommendations as they relate to menopause.
- Soy products in particular seem to help with hot flashes and night sweats – a couple of servings a day a few times a week should be enough. However, the key to the effectiveness of soy may lie in how much fiber we eat in a day. If we have a low fiber diet (average Western diet has about 15 g fiber / day), then we may not build up enough gut bacteria needed to convert the soy into compounds that are particularly effective in managing hot flashes. Ideally, we should be eating at least 30 g fiber / day from whole plant foods, not supplements.
- Mood can be strongly impacted by food. This is a HUGE topic in and of itself but to put it simply, research shows that consuming more vegetables, fruits, nuts and beans improves mental well-being and life satisfaction. Essentially, they make you happier.
- Foods that are good for brain cognition include green leafy vegetables and berries.
The good news is that the diet that helps with menopause also helps to reduce your risk of diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Diabetes and other chronic diseases. This diet will help not only you, but your whole family.
If you think it’s too late because you’re close to menopause or past menopause already, it’s not. I began to move my diet towards the above recommendations just as I was entering menopause, and it still seemed to have a significant impact. I still experienced phenomena associated with menopause, but it seemed to be less intense compared to my sisters – my ‘control’ group.
But most importantly, it’s never too early or too late to start to move towards better health.
Next up – Sleep.
