Every woman experiences different menopause symptoms. Most women have some hot flashes, some have hair thinning or hair falling and some feel irritable, suffer from headaches, nausea or night sweats.
Whatever may your menopause symptoms be, the following food strategies just might help make your years around menopause a little more comfortable. They’ll help you manage your menopause symptoms, while also protecting your heart and your bones.
Try these strategies:
1. Eat More Tofu and Soy
Soy is rich in the female hormone, oestrogen. An imbalance of this hormone is implicated in hair loss. It may also give relief from hot flashes, although that benefit is still being debated by researchers. Eat tofu dishes or miso soup or plain soy milk.
2. Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
Some fruits and vegetables have chemicals that help protect our bodies’ health and well-being. Phytoestrogens are particular plant chemicals that are very similar in structure to oestrogen, and may act as weak oestrogen in our bodies. Phytoestrogens make the body think it has more oestrogen than it really does.
The mineral boron holds the body’s ability to hold onto oestrogen.
Fruits to eat: plums, prunes, strawberries, apples, tomatoes, pears, grapes, grapefruit, oranges and raspberries.
Vegetables to eat: asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, soybeans, sweet potatoes and wheat.
3. Eat Beans and Flax Seeds
Beans are full of fibre. These contain phytoestrogens. They are good sources of many vitamins and minerals, including calcium, folic acid and vitamin B-6. Sprinkle beans in your green salads and pasta salads.
Flax seeds are a rich source of phytoestrogens. Take ¼ to 1 teaspoonful daily.
4. Eat More of the Right Fats
A diet high in fat, especially saturated fat is usually high in calories and low in nutrients. This is the opposite of what a menopausal woman needs. Research shows the right fats are omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, olive oil and canola oil. The protein in the fish oils is required for healthy hair. After all, hair is 97% protein!
The wrong fats are saturated fats and trans fatty acids found in foods like packaged cookies, chips, and crackers. Eat more fish. Eat less animal fat by choosing leaner meats and lower-fat dairy products. Limit foods that contain hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils.
Alternatively, you can take capsules that contain the essential ingredients to help in hair loss or hair thinning. Nutrigro Hair Food Plus capsules are 100 % vegetarian and two daily would give the daily recommended amounts required for healthy fuller looking hair.
Ravi Bhanot
