Perimenopause Part 2: Nutrition Tips
A chief concern we hear from clients in perimenopause is that their body doesn’t feel like their own. We covered why in part 1 of this blog series. But, understanding the why doesn’t make the transition any easier or symptoms any less severe. Our goal here in part 2 is to empower you with information and practical tips to do exactly that: implement changes to improve your symptoms and feel better in your body.
Sorting Through All The Information
There is a lot of misinformation in the media these days about ways to fix menopause symptoms. If you take a closer look, most interventions rely on sponsored supplements, restrictive diets, and the promise of a cure-all. Remember – menopause is caused by unavoidable and expected hormonal changes! Nothing you buy online or that anyone recommends can reverse or prevent this. Your hormones will change, so we have to figure out how to work with them.
Nutrition to Ease Menopause Symptoms
The good news is that when it comes to nutrition, there are evidence-backed habits you can implement to ease the symptoms caused by those pesky hormones. Though you might be looking for a food culprit to blame, restricting yourself will only compromise your relationship with food and put you at risk for eating disorders long-term. We challenge you to shift to a mindset of adequacy and focus on what to add instead of subtract from your diet.
Let’s start by focusing on 3 important factors: regular meals, adequate protein, and adequate fiber.
Regular Meals as a Foundation
When it comes to meals and snacks, less is not more. Estrogen and progesterone are increasing your hunger signals and dysregulating your blood sugar, which kicks cravings into overdrive. Eating enough and eating enough regularly is the first part of the solution to managing those symptoms.
Take a moment to think about your day: How many meals do you eat? How about snacks? Are you grazing or taking time for a more established meal? We can focus more on what to eat later; for now, think about when. If your brain is ringing with diet culture messaging about skipping meals and fasting, then we’re glad you’re here. Those practices will only disturb your blood sugar further!
While there is no one-size-fits-all meal plan, we recommend giving your day structure with 3 meals and 2-3 snacks. When you eat regularly, your blood sugar will have a rhythmic pattern that rises after meals and falls leading into the next. Since we’re targeting the irregular fluctuations caused by hormones, this predictable rise and fall is a good thing.
Here are some tips for eating regular meals:
- Eat breakfast, even if you aren’t a breakfast person. A piece of fruit, drinkable yogurt, or granola bar are easy grab-and-go options to start.
- Have a snack between breakfast and lunch and/or lunch and dinner if you’re hungry. Pairing two items (like cheese and fruit) will make the snack more satisfying.
- Don’t skimp on your meals. Make a full plate, and eat until you’re comfortably full.
- There’s nothing wrong with a snack after dinner – whether dessert or not!
If you have questions about fitting regular meals and snacks into your busy routine, we’d love to help.
Eat Enough Protein
Protein is having a long moment in the spotlight, with everyone from unqualified influencers to snack companies pushing you to eat more, more, more. Do you need protein in every snack and dessert? No. Could making sure that you’re eating enough protein to support your individual needs be helpful? Yes. Thankfully, it likely isn’t as much as the internet is telling you.
Protein foods give us the building blocks needed to maintain our muscle mass and grow our muscles. Unfortunately, muscle mass declines naturally as we age regardless of our sex or life stage. Why does this matter? Muscle is important for mobility, bone health, blood sugar control, and strength for everything from opening jars to carrying packages, groceries, or – eventually – grandkids.
Protein also helps keep us full and satiated between meals. Thanks to decreasing estrogen (and other fluctuating hormones reviewed in part 1), women going through menopause often feel increases in appetite and cravings. They’re real and shouldn’t be ignored, but protein can help reduce those sensations, especially between meals. If you think of how a bowl of pasta feels compared to pasta with chicken, you’ll understand how that chicken (protein) helps the satisfaction from that meal last a bit longer.
How much protein is right for you? The minimum daily recommendation is for 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, though eating 1.2g/kg may be more helpful for maintaining muscle mass. For comparison, many social media sources recommend that you eat upwards of 2.0g/kg daily! Protein targets should always be adjusted based on your activity levels, and unless you’re an active strength and endurance athlete, 2.0 g/kg is too high.
Here are some tips for meeting your protein needs:
- 0.8-1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight is about 0.36-0.54 grams per pound
- If you don’t want to do that math or involve your weight, aim for 20-30 grams of protein from food per meal. You can get this from 4oz of chicken or 1 cup of edamame, for example.
- Try for about 10 grams of protein per snack if you feel like you need a bit more or if you’re hungry. You can get this from ½ cup of Greek yogurt or 2 medium eggs.
Don’t Overlook Fiber
You may have heard about fiber for its cardiovascular benefits or how it can help control blood sugar levels. Both of these are relevant to perimenopause, and thus, so is fiber. We, once again, turn to estrogen. Decreasing estrogen can cause insulin resistance, which is a way of saying that the body doesn’t move glucose out of the bloodstream and into the cells as efficiently. This can also contribute to inflammation and worsening lipids (i.e. blood cholesterol).
Fiber combats those two concerns directly by:
- Slowing the absorption of glucose from food into our bloodstream.
- Improving satisfaction (like protein does!). Staying fuller longer can give your body time to digest the previous meal and let your blood sugar slowly come back down from its normal post-meal high.
- Binding cholesterol and removing it from our bodies.
What is fiber? Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that comes from plants: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans, and legumes. We (humans) can’t digest fiber, so it passes through our digestive systems where the bacteria in our intestines break it down into beneficial nutrients and compounds. Fiber also helps with regular bowel movements!
Here are some tips for eating enough fiber:
- Aim for 25-35 grams of fiber per day
- Little bits add up: Add nuts to a snack; have a piece of fruit with a meal; add lettuce and tomato to your sandwich; swap white bread for whole wheat or whole grain, if you like it.
- Try eating a high-fiber breakfast if you struggle with fiber-rich foods later in the day. A few ideas are: oatmeal with nuts; high-fiber cereal with yogurt, fruit, and nuts or seeds; veggie scramble with whole wheat toast and fruit
Make Lasting Changes
We know it will likely take more than a blog post to make lasting changes to your dietary pattern. If you’d like more support, don’t hesitate to reach out. Working with a registered dietitian is the best way to personalize these recommendations to you and your life.
