How To Avoid Weight Gain During Menopause?
Hormonal changes during menopause can lead to significant weight gain in many women. In this article, we look at how weight gain during menopause can be prevented through lifestyle and eating habits.
Decreasing estrogen and progesterone production during menopause affects metabolic activity. As a result, the tendency for excessive fat accumulation increases and the loss of muscle mass is accelerated.
This situation not only causes uncomfortable changes in appearance, but unfortunately also increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and many other metabolic disorders that impair quality of life.
Weight gain during menopause can even be completely prevented by certain means, and especially when lifestyles have changed long before menopause arrives.
That’s why we want to share the following 7 great tips for happier and healthier menopause that you can try in practice at this important stage in your life, all without the fear of the nasty effects of being overweight. Read more below!
1. Increase your intake of natural diuretics
Natural diuretics, or dehydrating foods, help reduce the accumulation of excess fluid in the body. Thanks to these ingredients, you will also feel unwell or swollen. In addition, they help control blood pressure, which in turn reduces the risk of developing certain diseases.
Although the following foods have diuretic properties, they do not have exactly the same effect as the dehydration drugs themselves. Dehydration medications should never be taken without a prescription from a doctor, as they can have significant side effects if misused.
Excellent natural diuretics include:
- Strawberries
- Watermelon
- Honey melon
- Pineapple
- Blueberries
- Pumpkin
- Asparagus
- Oats
- Parsley
- Artichoke
- Green tea
- Field card
- Dandelion
2. Enjoy plenty of water
Daily water intake is important at every stage of life, not just during menopause. Drinking enough water can be very helpful as it helps keep hunger at bay for a long time.
Thus, drinking enough water can help us reduce our daily caloric intake, as we didn’t snap unnecessary snacks throughout the day as easily as we would probably do when hungry.
3. Exercise
Although there are significant changes in the body during menopause, exercise is still one of the best tools to maintain a healthy and even ideal weight.
At the same time, when we exercise, we stimulate our metabolism to keep up with the movement and provide the body with the energy it needs. In other words, during exercise we burn calories. This, along with a healthy diet, is the best option for maintaining a healthy weight.
Exercising also has other benefits, as it helps to slow down the loss of muscle mass, which is a very important indicator of health for older people.
In addition, exercise helps maintain bone density at a healthy level. This, in turn, is essential for the prevention of many bone diseases, such as osteoporosis, which is a fairly common disease, especially during menopause.
4. Include fatty fish in your diet
The nutritional benefits of fatty fish are especially important for women who are struggling with the adverse effects of menopause.
- Fatty fish is high in protein, which helps maintain normal muscle protein recycling and breakdown to avoid muscle mass wear.
- Omega-3 fatty acids in fatty fish improve both cardiovascular health and help reduce the amount of bad cholesterol (LDL) in the blood.
5. Enjoy the oats
Oats are a food rich in essential nutrients that help keep the body active and full of energy.
One of the best benefits of oats is the feeling of satiety it gives. Because of this, oats are an excellent food especially for breakfast as it helps us stay full longer while avoiding excessive calorie intake at lunch or between meals. In addition, oats can help control blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
As you may have noticed, oats are the best food that can be used to prepare varied meals.
6. Avoid foods that are too greasy
Fats are the nutrients that produce the most calories per gram in our body. Indeed, it is really easy to increase your daily caloric intake if we consume a lot of extra fat. At the same time, however, we emphasize that fats should not be completely eliminated from the diet, as they, like other nutrients, are an essential source of energy for the body.
The most suitable option for adjusting fat intake is to replace saturated or hard fats with polyunsaturated and soft fats.
To this end, efforts should be made to avoid the consumption of industrial pastries and highly processed foods. In addition, more attention should be paid to the quantity and quality of oils and fats used in cooking.
7. Limit your sugar intake during menopause
White sugar, as well as foods containing it, can have a significant effect on weight gain and also cause other metabolic disorders in the body.
Although sugar consumption should be limited at any stage of life, it is best to significantly reduce its daily intake, especially during menopause.
- Changes in hormonal functions reduce the body’s ability to use sugar as its main source of energy, which in turn leads to the accumulation of excess fat.
- At the same time, the consumption of white sugar raises blood sugar and thus also increases the risk of developing diabetes significantly.
Are you worried about your weight specifically during menopause? Fortunately, weight gain during menopause and the resulting health problems can be largely controlled by applying the recommendations listed above in daily routines and, above all , by making them a permanent part of a new, healthier lifestyle.
