Perimenofood – Makes Your Transition Easier

Let thy food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. Hippocrates’ famous quote might be the solution when in perimenopause. Don’t forget that food is your body’s fuel. Be sure you fuel up with the right gas during this period.
You should always be aware of the things you eat but I would like to say that during the transition it is more important than ever. You might discover that you can’t eat as you always have, and exercise as usual if you are worried about weight gain. I am not that keen to talk about food in the ”lose weight-perspective”, it’s not about losing weight it is about keeping your body and soul in balance. But strange things happen during this strange period of time and some corrections in your diet might help you on the way.
First, I want to clarify two things.
1) There are no miracle diets that will help you to avoid or postpone menopause. Everyone will eventually go through that phase of life.
2) This is not rocket science. You don’t have to add special herbs or stop eating ice-cream. Everything is about common sense and some extra knowledge.
So, the absolute most important thing to talk about is MEAT. There are enough studies showing how meat affects us so I hereby want to say – too much meat is not good for you (even though I know that there even are some health coaches trying to convince us that the carnivore diet is the best) I will not even comment on this because science talks. There are even studies that shows that a decreased intake of meat can decrease your hot flushes during perimenopause. We could call that a bit of a miracle, couldn’t we?
When I stopped eat meat my cholesterol levels decreased at once. There were not high from the beginning but it still showed lower levels after a period of no meat. And I could feel that my night sweats didn’t come that often anymore. I do eat meat from time to time at the moment. I am not strict vegan nor vegetarian but I eat it very, very seldom.
The next thing I want to mention is SUGAR. And this is not rocket science either. Sugar is a big no no. Especially during perimenopause when all your hormones are swinging. During perimenopause I could almost feel as I had low blood sugar levels from time to time so the most important thing I did for my wellbeing was quitting the sugar. I promise you will feel better if you do too (but if you want that ice-cream from time to time, just take it).
I think it’s also important to talk about the things we can add and not only the things we have to exclude. I have been researching this topic for over 10 years and I think that the best thing you can do for your body and soul during perimenopause is to follow the Mediterranean diet. People who follow this diet eat meat sometimes, but more fish. They also eat loads of fruits and vegetables, nuts, vegetable oils, pulses and grains. And that is exactly what you should do in perimenopause – pretend you are near the Mediterranean. You can even take a glass of rosé. But only one and only occasionally.
This is a guest post. Any opinions expressed are the writer’s own.