Diet & Lifestyle

Diet

Eating a healthy, balanced diet has far-reaching and long-lasting benefits for one’s health, and good nutrition should be seen as part of personal care.

Menopause is a natural stage of life that can affect all women differently. In the short, medium, long, and short term, you can make positive lifestyle changes to help relieve menopausal symptoms and manage some of the longer-term health concerns.

British Menopause Society suggests that eating a healthy, balanced diet has far-reaching and long-lasting benefits for one’s health. Good nutrition should be seen as part of personal care.

It is known that;

Having a varied diet, including plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, calcium-rich foods, and low-fat dairy products maintaining a healthy weight through eating healthy and having regular exercise having a moderate intake of caffeine and alcohol.

Alcohol

Alcohol is a substance that can cause damage while it remains within our bodies. This is particularly correct in menopausal women. Alcohol can also exacerbate menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes, mood swings and insomnia.

Dehydration is one of the side effects of alcohol. As we get older, our bodies lose water volume. Drinking plenty of water can help, but so can decreasing the amount of alcohol we consume.

Alcohol also increases the risk of many types of cancer (including breast cancer); it can worsen menopausal symptoms, disturb sleep, and increase the risk of osteoporosis.

Smoking

Cigarette smoking is linked to the risk of many diseases and health outcomes. Like alcohol, smoking increases the risk of many cancers, cardiovascular disease, and blood clots and increases the risk of osteoporosis.

Studies suggest that smoking may increase the risk of early menopause. Women smoking may have menopause eight months earlier than those who don’t. This could be up to three or four years earlier for heavy smokers. Reports show passive smokers are more likely to go through an earlier menopause than non-smokers. Nicotine leads to a reduction in oestrogen levels, thus triggering early-onset menopause and its symptoms.

There appears to be also a dose-response relation between cigarette smoking and the risk of early menopause, primarily among current smokers but also among past smokers.

Lifestyle

How we can help?

At Abbey Menopause, in addition to general health screening, we offer lifestyle advice to support you in making changes towards healthier living that will benefit you for years to come. Whether it helps with weight loss and diet, exercise advice, sleep or exploring psychosexual problems, one of our clinicians can help you.

We use cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and life coaching techniques to help you explore why these changes may have been challenging to make or maintain and identify achievable future goals.

Weight management

A higher-than-normal BMI can increase many health risks, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, and cancer. It is, however, a reality that around menopause, weight control also becomes much harder! Unfortunately, weight gain is a significant health concern for perimenopausal and menopausal women.

Will HRT make me gain weight?

There is no evidence that HRT leads to weight gain. HRT can have a positive impact on weight and metabolism. A few women will experience fluid retention, which may be seen as weight gain, but this often settles within 4-6 weeks after starting HRT.

Around menopause, our bodies become less sensitive to insulin. This changes how our body handles glucose and causes more energy to be stored as fat instead of used. This fat is mainly stored around the middle (hence the term ‘middle-aged spread’). This, unfortunately, is the weight most associated with developing high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease.

Fat around the middle also contributes to further insulin resistance, making it more challenging to lose weight. This can turn into a vicious cycle may ensue.

HRT can partly reverse this process, and some changes can be made to the diet that can help to increase overall metabolism.

Why do women gain weight around the menopause?

There are two main reasons for that. Basal metabolic rate decreases as we get older- so every calorie we eat will be harder to burn off. In addition, insulin resistance is raised. This leads to a tendency for the body to store the calories instead of burning them.

We will likely lose weight if we eat less or move more.