How to Design a Healthy Diet for Menopause

While we know the cliche that only two things are certain “death and taxes.” There is another event that is inevitable for women. Menopause is a change of life that happens to the bodies of females when they hit their 40s. As hormone levels in the system change, exciting and emporwering events begin to take place.

Doctors will agree that this is a natural occurence and it happens as you are no longer able to bear children and are moving on to a new time in our life. You will begin to experience hot flashes, mood swings and your body takes on new curves.

This seems a bit unfair to have to deal with excess pounds on top of all of the other symptoms, but nonetheless it happens. One of the reasons that menopause predisposes us to weight gain is because our natural estrogen levels begin to decrease during these years.

Over a third of most women between the ages of 45 and 50 are shown to gain a minimum of 5 pounds, although the most reliable studies indicate that actual menopausal weight gain is between 10 and 15 pounds. Less than half of all women in the studies maintained their same weight throughout the menopausal years and this was only through extreme dieting and determination.

It is important that this weight gain be controlled or prevented because those increased pounds can also increase the risk for many diseases like high blood pressure, stroke, and heart disease. Exercise is a key factor to help maintain proper weight, and females should become involved in both cardiac activities and weight training.

If you’re a woman in the age range for menopause, your diet should be nutrient-rich and well balanced. Women should be eating fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein, whole grains and calcium containing foods on a daily basis even before menopause symptoms occur.

If you want a healthy life, free of many of the most common menopausal symptoms, adjust your diet to include healthy foods including all of the necessary vitamins and minerals.

You shoul avoid: sugar, processed foods, alcohol, soy based products like tofu and caffeine.

You will fly right through menopause when you add these healthy foods to your diet and acquire more daily activity. When you are in the second half of your life, you can certainly have some of your best years due to the cumulative experiences you’ve had.

Foods that should be in your Diet: Vitamins A, D, C and E, Vitamins and supplements that include B-12, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, fiber, phytoestrogens, and isoflavones; skim or fat-free milk; cottage cheese; yogurt; leafy greens like spinach, kale, and broccoli; seafood, especially fish; whole-wheat cereals and breads.

By changing your lifestyle to incorporate a healthy diet and exercise, you can smile as those menopausal months come around. A lot of the uncomfortable symptoms can be lowered or gone as you go through a change in your lifestyle. If you exercise more and eat good natural foods, you can make the future your greatest and outgoing years of your life.