Menopause Help: How can I relieve the symptoms of perimenopause?
Your healthy habits have a huge impact on how you experience menopause. The healthier you are and the more harmonious all your body systems are, the better your body will navigate the hormonal changes of menopause.
Blood sugar & hormones during menopause
Let's look at what this means in concrete terms using an example. A woman with a stressed gut, severe blood sugar fluctuations, and chronic inflammation will have a harder time coping with the hormonal changes of menopause. The symptoms may be more severe than if the changes impact a healthy and resilient system and throw it out of balance.
This also applies to your well-being during menopause - and also has a major impact on the increasing health risks after menopause.
Various symptoms in the phases of menopause
As described in the last article , there are different phases of menopause with a wide range of symptoms. Your hormonal changes don't happen overnight, as the ovaries don't have a simple on/off switch. This transition phase, also known as menopause or peri-menopause, is a period of hormonal chaos that lasts several years and can be accompanied by many symptoms. Mood swings, lack of energy, joint pain, and sleep problems are often the first signs before the 'typical' symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats appear. That's the unpleasant news: You're not just in menopause when you experience hot flashes. There are many symptoms (more on that in the first article ) that can begin even when your cycle is still irregular and you're not even thinking about menopause yet!
Top Habits for Healthy Menopause
So, what is the ideal lifestyle that will optimally support you during menopause? The three main themes I integrate into my work with women over 40 are nutrition, exercise, and self-care (stress management and sleep). These three pillars are fundamental to optimally supporting yourself during this transitional phase.
In today's blog post, we're diving a little deeper into game-changing nutrition topics - so what are the top 3 habits for healthy menopause?
1. A menopause-friendly diet
Your eating habits can have a profound impact on your well-being during menopause. In addition to the general principles of a healthy, varied diet, there are a few adjustments you can make to optimally support your menopause.
Prioritize protein
Protein helps us build and maintain healthy cells, hormones , and muscles. During menopause, your metabolism also changes, with the negative consequence that you no longer utilize protein as efficiently. This means that regular intake becomes especially important. Protein also keeps us full and satisfied, and it also supports your blood sugar balance. Many women have a carbohydrate-heavy diet and benefit greatly from an increased focus on protein.
Menopause tip : Start your meals and snacks with protein and colors - this will help you find the right balance and keep your blood sugar levels stable.
Support your intestines
Your gut produces and detoxifies hormones. This simple fact explains why a healthy gut is essential for your well-being during menopause. A healthy gut also supports optimal nutrient supply. Menopausal symptoms such as lack of energy , joint pain, and more are often exacerbated by a lack of important nutrients or an insufficient supply.
Did you know that symptoms like mood swings and your tendency to inflammation can be linked to both menopause and gut health? So you see: a healthy gut will support you during this phase, while a compromised gut is much more likely to exacerbate symptoms.
Menopause tip : "Eat the rainbow." Include a variety of vegetables, prebiotic foods (e.g., slightly underripe bananas, onions, asparagus, chicory, etc.), and probiotic foods (fermented foods like sauerkraut) in your diet. Stay away from highly processed and sugary foods.
Eat Anti-Inflammatory
Chronic inflammation plays a decisive role in degenerative (function-limiting) diseases and accelerates aging. Symptoms such as joint pain, skin, and intestinal problems are typical signs. Your brain and bone structure are also negatively affected by chronic inflammation—you probably know how important this is during menopause.
Menopause tip: A focus on many different colors, healthy fats like fish and olive oil, and avoiding highly processed fats and foods are a good start to an anti-inflammatory lifestyle.
Balance your blood sugar
Let's be honest: How are you dealing with mood swings, hot flashes, or insomnia? And how well do you control your blood sugar?
Well-regulated blood sugar levels can help you keep mood swings, hot flashes, and even insomnia under control. It's important to understand that your blood sugar constantly fluctuates depending on diet, activity, and stress, and these reactions can vary from person to person. What you should avoid are more extreme peaks and dips.
Menopause tip : To understand how you can optimally regulate your blood sugar, we recommend using Hello Inside . With the "Menopause in Balance" program, you'll learn everything there is to know about blood sugar, hormones, menopause, and the most important symptoms. This way, you can easily take control of your health and well-being.
So you see – nutrition during menopause is more than just energy intake. It has profound effects on your well-being and is a simple way to reduce your symptoms. After all, we all need to eat.
Dietary supplements can be important building blocks for compensating for deficiencies. However, since this is a very individual issue, it's recommended to take a closer look with experienced therapists.
In addition to the tips already mentioned, it's also important to ensure adequate fluid intake. Drinking enough fluids, in the form of water or unsweetened beverages, has a positive effect on many menopausal issues, such as digestion, dryness, lack of energy, cravings, and focus problems.
In addition to a healthy diet, exercise and self-care are among my top tips for getting through menopause well.
2. Regular exercise for healthy menopause
Exercise is a miracle cure and has an incredible number of benefits – including for blood sugar. Exercise is especially important for a healthy menopause, as it counteracts many of the symptoms of hormonal changes – as well as the increased risks. For example, you can actively counteract natural muscle loss. Strength training is always a good idea, but especially during menopause.
Muscles are a longevity organ - muscles keep us upright, strong and slim, in addition:
- Do muscles boost metabolism? Muscles are metabolically active tissue. More muscle consumes more energy.
- Muscles and exercise improve insulin sensitivity: Your risk of diabetes increases with hormonal changes, and muscles can actively counteract this tendency!
- Your energy level will be positively influenced: Exercise of any kind optimizes your energy metabolism and builds more mitochondria (the powerhouses of your cells). These have a positive impact on your energy levels – women often struggle with lack of energy during menopause.
- Positive for mood and a healthy brain: Mood swings and a "cotton ball in the brain" are common during menopause and can be actively counteracted with exercise. Your long-term brain health is also positively influenced.
- Bone health: You probably already know how important healthy bones are for women after menopause. Exercise, especially strength training, and any kind of jumping exercise have a direct stimulating effect on bone formation and are therefore extremely beneficial from this perspective as well!
So you see, exercise truly is a miracle cure and should definitely be a part of your lifestyle! I recommend focusing on muscle, meaning strength training. Women often worry that they'll gain too much weight if they do strength training. But this is unfounded. We can and should use heavier weights and provide proper stimulation. Muscle makes you slim and keeps you upright!
A mix of varied activities is ideal—any type of exercise supports your menopause. Studies show that women who engage in regular, balanced exercise experience fewer menopausal symptoms.
However, if you are short on time and can only manage one type of exercise, strength training and muscle building should be prioritized!
3. The Importance of Self-Care (Stress Management and Sleep)
During this time of hormonal change, the impact of stress should not be underestimated. Stress hormones are "loud" and drown out all others in the orchestra of hormones, meaning unregulated stress can further disrupt your changing hormones. In addition, we become more sensitive to stress. Women in this phase of life are particularly trying to juggle so much: children, partner, job, and possibly even their parents, who receive more attention and support. At the same time, it's not easy to say no.
But in order to take care of your own health and enjoy life for a long time, these four letters are worth their weight in gold and help you build healthy boundaries.
Menopause tip: In addition to reducing stress, stress management should also be a priority. Great techniques include breathing techniques (such as box breathing), walks, meditation, yoga, and much more.
Stress, of course, also affects your entire body—one interesting connection, for example, is that your blood sugar regulation works better when you're NOT stressed. For example, you can improve your insulin sensitivity with deep breathing/box breathing before eating.
Menopause is a great opportunity to prioritize yourself and your health and develop a few basic habits that provide natural menopause support and will also support you positively well into old age. You can't avoid the hormonal changes during this phase—but you can significantly influence how well your body copes with these changes.
Menopause tip: A holistic approach is optimal; the interaction of diet (and supplements), exercise, and self-care can trigger profound changes.
The Hello Inside Menopause Program can be a step in the right direction – you'll learn great strategies that you can gradually incorporate into your routine.
Hello Inside is a helpful tool for laying the foundation for a healthy menopause. You'll see and learn objectively and directly how your body reacts to your diet and lifestyle, and you'll receive practical, tailored tips that you can integrate step by step into your daily routine.
About Barbara :
Barbara Birke is a sports scientist, nutritionist, and mindfulness coach, and owner of Optimum You. She supports women over 40 with nutrition, exercise, and self-care to navigate menopause and the rest of their lives with strength and balance. Barbara shares many tips, experiences, and inspiration in her podcast " Hello Menopause !" She also offers online courses and individual coaching for women over 40. You can find her on Instagram at @youroptimum .
