Nutrition in peri-menopause, menopause & midlife: 4 areas of our health to elevate with diet & nutrition
Nutrition in peri-menopause, menopause & midlife: 4 areas of our health to elevate with diet & nutrition.
Peri-menopause, menopause and mid-life is a time in a woman’s lives where her world is changing. The children in her life may be growing up. She may be questioning her career path. She may be craving new intellectual challenges. She may be exploring her life purpose and seeking more fulfilment. She is passionate about making a meaningful difference in the world around her. Many women are starting to reclaim a focus on themselves.
In peri-menopause, menopause and midlife, we stop feeling invincible health-wise. Some of our friends now have chronic health conditions. Some may have experienced cancer, depression, anxiety or other mental illness, some have auto-immune conditions, while others are living with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, or high blood sugars.
We realize how much we need our health to be able to enjoy living our lives. We start to see that living a healthful, longer life is indeed a privilege.
Does how you approach your nutrition in peri-menopause, menopause & midlife need to change?
Most women notice that their bodies change during this phase of life. I have written a lot on weight changes in midlife. While weight gain and weight loss in peri-menopause, menopause & midlife can invite more awareness to our diet, being preoccupied with scale weight may misguide our attention away from what is more important: supporting and nurturing our strength, functionality and health for our future.
We are so much more than our bodies. During this stage of life, it is important to shift toward supporting the bodies we are in and setting the stage for future good health and vitality through elevating our food, nutrition and lifestyle.
Healthful eating is for everyone. Healthful eating is attainable for everyone, in the bodies they are in right now. But for many women in peri-menopause and menopause, the only way they know how to engage with food and nutrition is through restriction and manipulation of their bodies. In fact, peri-menopause, menopause and beyond is a time for elevation of food and nutrition.
Peri-menopause, menopause & midlife: Think about longevity & nourishing the body you have
What you eat and how you live can make a big difference to your health now and in your future. I’d invite you to shift your focus to how you can support the body you are in *right now* for your best life. Longevity is a marathon, not a sprint, so let’s figure out an approach to supporting your health that you can *live* with.
Let me share with you four areas of your health profile to consider supporting and elevating with a healthful diet and supportive lifestyle.
Peri-menopause, menopause & midlife: 4 areas of our health to support with nutrition:
1) Bone mass – Women achieve peak bone mineral density around the age of 30. From there, women’s bone mineral density reduces with age, with rapid losses being associated with the menopausal transition (when a woman stops menstruating for 12 consecutive months).
There are many bone building nutrients including calcium, as well as magnesium, vitamins C, vitamin D, Vitamin K, zinc, and protein. Focusing on your dietary pattern to include these nutrients, while also including weight-bearing activity and exercise are helpful in preserving bone mineral density and preventing falls and fractures. You might not be thinking about preventing falls and breaking a hip – but when I see a woman in midlife, I am!
2) Cardiovascular health – After the menopausal transition, women’s rate of cardiovascular disease (CVD) increases. Diet and a healthful dietary pattern can help to improve our blood pressure, our cholesterol levels, our blood sugars, which could then translate into preventing CVD.
A dietary pattern that supports our cardiovascular health includes vegetables, fruits, plant-protein, fish, healthy fats, as well as low-fat dairy, while also being lower in refined grains, added sugars and salt.
The Mediterranean Diet: What it is, Why it matters, and 12 Tasty tips to get you started.
3) Cognitive health – Feeling forgetful, having brain fog and memory lapses are distressing yet common experiences in midlife. The decline in estrogen after the menopausal transition can contribute to cognitive and memory impairment. Research shows that a Mediterranean dietary pattern, which includes consumption of foods rich in antioxidants, unsaturated fatty acids and B vitamins can reduce the risk of dementia.
Wondering how Mediterranean is your diet? This Eating the Mediterranean Way resource can help you assess your own diet!
4) Cancer risk – Our dietary pattern, how much alcohol we drink, how physically active we are, and if we smoke, can all influence our risk for different cancers. Following a healthy eating pattern at all ages can reduce your cancer risk.
A dietary pattern that supports a reduced risk for cancer is one that includes a variety of colorful vegetables and fruits, whole grains, plant-based proteins and foods that are high in nutrients. This dietary pattern is also one that limits red and processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages, highly processed foods and refined grains.
Nutrition in peri-menopause, menopause & midlife: Growing older is a privilege
Growing older is a privilege that is denied to many people. In peri-menopause, menopause & midlife, it is time to stop dieting and start caring for your body so that you can keep living.
What would shift for you if you cared for the body you have right now? How would you change what and how you eat if you thoughts about food and nutrition as a way to elevate (not manipulate) your body?
And as you think about caring for your health, widen your lens to be bigger than just your physical body. Consider the health of your other “bodies” – emotional, psychological, social, intellectual, creative, and spiritual.
If you are given the opportunity to grow older, think about how you want to spend that privilege. How do you want to live?
References consulted in writing this blog post:
Kostecka M. The role of healthy diet in the prevention of osteoporosis in the perimenopausal period. Pak J Med Sci. 2014 Jul-Aug; 30(4): 763–768. Available from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4121694/
Gardener SL, Rainey-Smith SR. The role of nutrition in cognitive function and brain aging in the elderly. Current Nutrition Reports. 2018. Vol 7: 139-149. Available from: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13668-018-0229-y
O’Connor DL, Blake J, Robinson N, Tumback L, Cheung A, et al. Canadian consensus on female nutrition: adolescence, reproduction, menopause and beyond. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Canada; 2016 (May); 38(6): 508-554. Available from https://www.jogc.com/article/S1701-2163(16)00042-6/fulltext#secsectitle0010
Rock CL, Thomson C, Gansler R, Gapstur SM, McCullough ML, Patel AV. American Cancer Society guideline for diet and physical activity for cancer prevention. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians 2020; 70(4): 245-271. Available from https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.3322/caac.21591
World Cancer Research Fund. Diet, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Cancer: A Global Perspective 3rd Expert Report. 2018. Available from https://www.wcrf.org/sites/default/files/Recommendations.pdf
Tagged in: calgary dietician, Calgary Dietitian, Calgary Nutritionist, diet and longevity, dietitian, eating pattern, health coach, health promotion, healthy eating, healthy food, longevity, Mediterranean diet, menopause, midlife, midlife nutrition, midlife wellness, nutrition in menopause, nutrition in perimenopause, Over 40, perimenopause, plant-based, women's health
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Welcome to the Energize Nutrition blog, where we share evidence-based nutrition content, designed to empower people’s midlife. Take a look around to find information on feeling your best.
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This is probably the most positive article I have read in a very long time. You are so right when you say “growing older is a privilege”. We are so consumed with our outer looks that we forget that what’s inside keeps us going.
I hope you continue writing about all aspects of our bodies, mind and soul and just maybe some doors will be opened to see how precious we all are in the “bodies we have now” and there is so much more to us than what we think we see in the mirror.
Thank you,
Sharon
Thank you Sharon for sharing your feedback on this post. What you identify as resonating with you feels very near and dear to my heart. As women, we are boundless oceans of wisdom, power, strength, and passion. If we embraced all of who we are now and approached ourselves with self-kindness and respect for ourselves, imagine how differently we might actually live? Thank you for this feedback.