Holistic approach including 5 pillars for healthy menopause; Diet, Exercise, Relaxation, Sleep and Purpose.
Some of the worst and most debilitating symptoms of menopause include emotional symptoms including anxiety, anger and mood swings, hot flushes and night sweats, joint pain, cognitive issues such as brain fog and memory loss, and difficulty sleeping.
Menopause: Menopause is the point when you no longer have menstrual periods. At this stage, your ovaries have stopped releasing eggs and stopped producing most of their estrogen. A healthcare provider diagnoses menopause when you've gone without a menstrual period for 12 consecutive months.
Menopause is divided into three basic stages: perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause. During this time, the ovaries begin to atrophy which causes a decline in the production of the hormones that stimulate the menstrual cycle; estrogen and progesterone.
Your healthcare provider will be able to tell you if you're in postmenopause based on your symptoms and how long it's been since your last menstrual period. In some cases, your healthcare provider will take a blood sample and check your hormone levels to confirm you've gone through menopause.
During this transition time before menopause, the supply of mature eggs in a woman's ovaries diminishes and ovulation becomes irregular. At the same time, the production of estrogen and progesterone decreases. It is the big drop in estrogen levels that causes most of the symptoms of menopause.
Perimenopause means "around menopause" and refers to the time during which your body makes the natural transition to menopause, marking the end of the reproductive years. Perimenopause is also called the menopausal transition.
Low energy is one common effect that many women experience before, during, and after this transition time. Fatigue around menopause occurs because of changing hormone levels, night sweats and other sleep disruptions, or other issues. You might feel physically and mentally drained or just plain tired.
Many women experience joint and muscle pain and stiffness around the time of menopause - that they hadn't experienced before. Because there are estrogen receptors all over the body, including the joints, declining hormone levels can add to pain caused by inflammation, general wear and tear, and just plain aging.
A Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center study involving postmenopausal, overweight, and obese women who took 2,000 IUs of vitamin D daily for a year found that those whose vitamin D blood levels increased the most had the greatest reductions in blood estrogens, which are a known risk factor for breast cancer.
Nuts and Seeds, including almonds, flaxseeds, peanuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds. Soy and soy products, such as soybeans, tofu, miso soup, miso paste. Vegetables, particularly broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, onions, spinach, sprouts.
Getting enough vitamin D and calcium around menopause can help prevent this. The United States' Office on Women's Health recommend an intake of 600 international units (IU) of vitamin D a day up to the age of 70 and 800 IU a day from 71 onward.
B vitamins are essential for energy and mood—“two things a lot of menopausal women struggle with,” says Dr. Petrucci. She suggests a B complex supplement, which often includes vitamin B12, methylcobalamin, folic acid and 5-methyltetrahydrofolate.
How Much Magnesium for Menopause? Magnesium is found in food sources such as spinach, nuts and beans. However, many may not be able to intake enough magnesium for menopause from their diet alone. According to the NHS, women need approximately 270 mg of magnesium per day, from the ages 19 to 64.
Exercise is key in getting to and staying at a weight that supports your health at any age. During menopause, it can help you lose belly fat. Doing “targeted" abdominal exercises to get rid of belly fat sounds like it would help, but you can't tell your body exactly where to shed pounds.
On average, women gain 5-8% of their baseline body weight during this time,” she says. For the sake of simple math, this means if you weigh 100 pounds, on average you will gain five pounds in the two years after your final period. If you weigh 200 pounds, you are expected to gain at least 10 pounds.