How to Design a Healthy Menopausal Diet
We all have heard about the inevitability of death and taxes and yet there is one other inevitable event, for women anyway. Around the age of 40-50, females have a change taking place in their lives and bodies that is known as menopause. Hormones begin to shift and the levels change, which brings about some exciting and empowering events.
According to doctors, this is a natural phenomenon that happens as you leave child-bearing years behind and move into a bright new time of life. You will begin to experience power surges (hot flashes), great depth of feeling (mood swings) and your body takes on new curves (excess weight).
This seems a bit unfair to have to deal with excess pounds on top of all of the other symptoms, but nonetheless it happens. One of the reasons that menopause predisposes us to weight gain is because our natural estrogen levels begin to decrease during these years.
Over a third of most women between the ages of 45 and 50 are shown to gain a minimum of 5 pounds, although the most reliable studies indicate that actual menopausal weight gain is between 10 and 15 pounds. Less than half of all women in the studies maintained their same weight throughout the menopausal years and this was only through extreme dieting and determination.
It is important that this weight gain be controlled or prevented because those increased pounds can also increase the risk for many diseases like high blood pressure, stroke, and heart disease. Exercise is a key factor to help maintain proper weight, and females should become involved in both cardiac activities and weight training.
The diet for women who are in the menopausal age range should be packed with nutrients and be well balanced. Even before menopause symptoms occur, women should be eating fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein, whole grains and calcium containing foods on a daily basis.
Vitamins, minerals, and healthy foods are key ingredients to a healthy future and you will even be able to diminish many menopausal symptoms if you adjust your diet properly.
Things to avoid: alcohol, sugar, processed foods, caffeine, salt, edamame (soybeans).
When you add these healthy foods to a more active lifestyle, you will be able to sail through the months of menopause. The second half of your life can well be the best years because you will have transformed yourself and become even stronger, healthier, and more radiant than ever.
Foods that should be in your Diet: Vitamins A, D, C and E, Vitamins and supplements that include B-12, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, fiber, phytoestrogens, and isoflavones; skim or fat-free milk; cottage cheese; yogurt; leafy greens like spinach, kale, and broccoli; seafood, especially fish; whole-wheat cereals and breads.
When you bring a new healthy diet and exercise program into your life you can meet those menopausal months with a bright smile. Many of those annoying symptoms can be decreased or eliminated and you can sail through this normal transition in style. With increased activity and natural, whole foods it is possible to make this new time in your life the best and most productive years of all.
According to doctors, this is a natural phenomenon that happens as you leave child-bearing years behind and move into a bright new time of life. You will begin to experience power surges (hot flashes), great depth of feeling (mood swings) and your body takes on new curves (excess weight).
This seems a bit unfair to have to deal with excess pounds on top of all of the other symptoms, but nonetheless it happens. One of the reasons that menopause predisposes us to weight gain is because our natural estrogen levels begin to decrease during these years.
Over a third of most women between the ages of 45 and 50 are shown to gain a minimum of 5 pounds, although the most reliable studies indicate that actual menopausal weight gain is between 10 and 15 pounds. Less than half of all women in the studies maintained their same weight throughout the menopausal years and this was only through extreme dieting and determination.
It is important that this weight gain be controlled or prevented because those increased pounds can also increase the risk for many diseases like high blood pressure, stroke, and heart disease. Exercise is a key factor to help maintain proper weight, and females should become involved in both cardiac activities and weight training.
The diet for women who are in the menopausal age range should be packed with nutrients and be well balanced. Even before menopause symptoms occur, women should be eating fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein, whole grains and calcium containing foods on a daily basis.
Vitamins, minerals, and healthy foods are key ingredients to a healthy future and you will even be able to diminish many menopausal symptoms if you adjust your diet properly.
Things to avoid: alcohol, sugar, processed foods, caffeine, salt, edamame (soybeans).
When you add these healthy foods to a more active lifestyle, you will be able to sail through the months of menopause. The second half of your life can well be the best years because you will have transformed yourself and become even stronger, healthier, and more radiant than ever.
Foods that should be in your Diet: Vitamins A, D, C and E, Vitamins and supplements that include B-12, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, fiber, phytoestrogens, and isoflavones; skim or fat-free milk; cottage cheese; yogurt; leafy greens like spinach, kale, and broccoli; seafood, especially fish; whole-wheat cereals and breads.
When you bring a new healthy diet and exercise program into your life you can meet those menopausal months with a bright smile. Many of those annoying symptoms can be decreased or eliminated and you can sail through this normal transition in style. With increased activity and natural, whole foods it is possible to make this new time in your life the best and most productive years of all.
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