Menopause is rather a taboo subject and few people actually talk about it apart from to complain about menopause symptoms. Several years ago, I asked my grandmother what her experience of menopause was and she said that there was nothing special about it. That is ideally what we want to all be saying about it. Unfortunately, many women instead are suffering from hot flashes, night sweats, heavy periods, weight gain, mood swings, brain fog, aches and pains, sleep disturbances and fatigue.
Menopause is “official” when women have not had a menstrual period for a full year. In the UK, according to the NHS, menopause usually occurs between 45 and 55 years of age and the average age is 51. Some women may be menopausal as early as age 42 or as late as age 57.
From age 35-50, a woman’s oestrogen production from ovaries goes down by 35%. Progesterone decreases by 75% during that period. There is therefore a risk of oestrogen dominance which results in all the same symptoms as mentioned above that have been associated with the menopause. Once the ovaries no longer make any progesterone, progesterone is produced by the adrenal glands which makes it highly important to manage our stress levels.
Here are 10 tips to help you approach menopause without unpleasant symptoms like hot flashes and mood swings. We need to be doing these things 5-10 years before menopause to ensure a smooth transition into menopause:
1. 𝗦𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽 7-9 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 - without restorative sleep every night, our hormones can become imbalanced due to high cortisol (stress hormones). Ensure you have a good wind down routine before sleep, for example, a nice bath, limited device time and reading a good book.
2. 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 - as we switch to producing progesterone from our adrenal glands and no longer from our ovaries, it is vital that we manage our stress levels well. You can read my 10 tips to manage stress here.
3. 𝗘𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝗴𝗹𝘆𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘁 to help keep your blood sugar stable which is the secret to balanced hormones. Ensure you eat adequate protein, healthy fats and fibre at each meal. Avoid refined carbohydrates like white pasta and bread and choose sweet potato or fibre-rich grains like quinoa, buckwheat or wild rice.
4. 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 - ensure daily exercise to strengthen and stretch and ideally getting out in the sunshine and in nature every day. This will help stress levels and sleep.
5. Reduce toxins - avoid xenoestrogens by using glass instead of plastic, eat organic to reduce pesticides which can disrupt hormones and check that your beauty products do not contain toxins using the Think Dirty app.
6. 𝗘𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗼𝘅𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 - this will help you clear excess hormones in order to keep hormones balanced. Sweat regularly in the sauna or with exercise, ensure daily bowel movements and keep hydrated!
7. Ensure you eat healthy fats - these provide the necessary ingredients for us to build hormones. Regularly eat whole organic eggs, extra virgin olive oil, avocados, coconut oil and oily fish.
8. Reduce body fat - excess body fat will provide excess oestrogen to the body which will cause oestrogen dominance. Focus on building muscle and strength building when you exercise and build in regular movement to your day.
9. Avoid aggressive cardiovascular exercise - aggressive exercise increases our cortisol (stress hormones) and can impair our precious melatonin which we produce every evening to have good restorative sleep.
10. Ensure good gut health - keep your gut bacteria balanced through varied plant foods and regularly eating fermented foods. Also ensure you eat your meals and sleep according to a regular routine. Studies show that our gut bacteria can influence our oestrogen levels which we need to keep balanced with progesterone to avoid menopause symptoms.
I hope these ten tips help you prevent any menopause symptoms and that you look forward to a healthy happy symptom-free menopause. I am sure these tips all make good sense to you and I imagine you already have most of these habits in place. You can learn more about how to avoid any symptoms by downloading my free Guide to Oestrogen Dominance.
