How Your Diet May Affect Menopause Symptoms
Most women agree menopause is no walk in the park. Just like shifting hormones lead to mood swings and acne during puberty, the declining estrogen level can cause havoc in your body. However, maintaining a healthy, well-balanced diet can be a good start if you are going through menopause. This is because certain foods may worsen your menopause symptoms. Different diets can positively or negatively affect the symptoms of menopause. Therefore, whatever food you put in your mouth can significantly influence your feelings. Here’s a brief list of foods that may worsen menopause symptoms.
Foods that Affect Menopause Symptoms
Foods with a Spicy Flavor
Consuming foods with a high heat index leads to sweating, flushing, and other symptoms comparable to hot flashes, even under normal conditions. If you are going through menopause, it is recommended that you cut back on the amount of extra-hot salsa that you put on your tacos. Consuming spicy foods can cause or worsen hot flashes and raise your body temperature.
Processed food
Even though potato chips, cookies, and doughnuts may have a pleasant flavor, they are typically high in sodium and contain a lot of artificial sweeteners or both. Inflammation, weight gain, fatigue, and bloating are all symptoms that can worsen by the unhealthy amounts of sugar and sodium in most processed foods.
Fast Foods
Drive-through restaurants are handy when you’re short on time, but the food they serve usually has a high percentage of fat. Eating fatty foods makes you more likely to get heart disease, which postmenopausal women are already more likely to get. They also have the propensity to promote weight gain, which can make the symptoms of menopause even worse. Not to mention, consuming these foods can lower the serotonin levels in the bodies of menopausal women. This leads to a lack of mood control.
Caffeine
The cup of coffee you have in the morning may be making your menopause symptoms worse. Caffeine consumption worsens vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause, such as night sweats, disturbed sleep, and hot flashes caused by blood vessel constriction or dilation. Caffeine is a stimulant. Women who consume caffeine in large quantities are more likely to experience hot flashes than women who consume caffeine in moderation or do not.
Alcohol
Consuming alcohol can worsen menopause symptoms, such as hot flashes, night sweats, and mood swings. When a woman goes through menopause, heavy drinking can cause her to experience increased mental fog and weight gain. They are also more likely to experience mood swings and irritability associated with menopause.
How Your Diet Can Affect Your Symptoms
The foods you eat either alleviate or exacerbate the symptoms of menopause. A study shows that women whose diets contain a greater quantity of fatty foods and sweets are more likely to report having experienced severe menopausal symptoms than women whose diets contain a greater quantity of fruits and vegetables. This is because fruits and vegetables reduce the severity of menopausal symptoms.
Changes You Can Make to Your Diet
At the time of menopause in a woman’s life, she should pay particular attention to maintaining a diet that is abundant in fresh fruits and vegetables, proteins that are low in fat, and whole grains. Eating healthy will assist you in the years to come in terms of maintaining your health. Cut back on how much of the foods listed above you consume.
Struggling with Menopause Symptoms?
Menopausal symptoms can take you on a rollercoaster. Consult a healthcare provider if you believe your diet is exacerbating your menopausal symptoms. Please fill out the form to contact us at CleopatraRX, and let’s start a conversation about your health and learn more about diet and menopause symptoms.