Menopause. What a lovely time of life eh? There are the hot flashes, the night sweats, that increased weight gain in the wrong parts of your body (i.e., your middle) difficulty with lubrication for sex, and more.
Unfortunately, there are no magic pills to turn the clock back and turn you into your late 20s or early 30s, but there are a number of things you can do to at least reduce or limit the effects of menopause, and naturally, we’re here to help.
#1. Limit your hot flashes
Most research leaves doctors to believe that as estrogen drops, that the body’s natural thermostat can be tricked into believing your body is too hot, and hot flashes are a way for the body to cool down.
Women should consider keeping a diary to find out the things that tend to trigger hot flashes such as caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods, stressful situations, or the room simply being too hot.
#2. Get better sleep
One of the hormones that significantly drops due to menopause is progesterone.
Progesterone helps regulate a woman’s cycle for ovulation, so naturally as menopause sets in, progesterone drops. Unfortunately, progesterone is also a sleep producing hormone. Keeping your bedroom cool, as well as practicing meditation, yoga, tai chi a few minutes per day may help significantly.
Exercise will also help but don’t exercise at night, it will simply energize you.
Also, consider eating earlier in the and then stopping you’re eating for the day. If you get hungry before bed take only a light snack, or consider sipping on warm milk and honey. Caffeine and alcohol on the other hand will tend to keep your evenings awake.
#3. Surprise surprise, menopause can also significantly thin your hair
According to a reputed medical school, unfortunately, a common experience of women during menopause that few people talk about is a significant thinning or loss of the hair.
Alternatively, some women also report that they develop facial hair, either above their lips or on their chin. As hair loss can be psychologically distressing for many women, the best treatment is normally to see a dermatologist who can prescribe medicines the reduce or even possibly regrow hair while having a minimal effect on a woman’s menopause symptoms.
A dermatologist can also zap away any signs of a post-menopausal mustache or beard with the technology at their disposal.
#4. Control your weight
If you haven’t been into the habits of eating your doctor recommended fruits and vegetables, and eliminating sugary treats or carb-laden food like pizza, fried food, sugar enhanced cereals, and the like, now is the time.
The average woman undergoing menopause gains 5 pounds, but at least 20 percent of women gain 10 pounds or more. In fact, women in their 50s burn around 200 calories less per day than when they were in their 30s, but that most of the weight gain is distributed in their middle, where weight gain is most dangerous.
Mid-body-spread is often associated with heart disease, which is the number one killer in both men and women.
To lose weight during menopause is often a challenge. First of all that women be sure and get a minimum of 150 minutes of exercise per week. And exercise need not be jogging or running. Dance classes such as Zumba and swimming aerobic classes are a terrific way to exercise and you’ll frequently have so much fun you won’t even notice you are exercising.
Other fun ways to exercise include taking up martial arts, playing Frisbee golf, or regular golf as long as you ditch the cart, and walking your dog. Even if you don’t have a dog, offer to walk your neighbors Saint Bernard or Great Dane.
Don’t rely on exercise alone to help you lose weight. To actually lose weight through exercise, you generally need to boost your exercise up at least another 100 minutes per week.
While exercise is important, even more, important is watching what you eat. An exercise guru had a famous saying about eating bad foods. All the time he said, “a moment on the lips but a lifetime on the hips.” With menopausal women, that slice of pizza or chocolate eclair maybe a lifetime on the waist.
#5 Eat Foods High in Phytoestrogens
Japanese women rarely have problems with hot flashes, and that may be because they eat a lot of tofu, tempeh, flaxseeds, and beans. The phytoestrogens in these foods may act as a substitute form of estrogen. And for women plagued with hot flashes, it’s certainly worth a try.
