Healthy Eating Guidelines for Menopause

Control the intake of refined sugar and refined white rice and noodles, give priority to eating enough high-calcium and high-quality protein, and eat more fresh ingredients rich in various phytochemicals. There are no absolute taboos on all controversial foods, and you can adjust them based on your own reactions.

The most misunderstanding I have come across is people’s fear of soy products. Many people quit soy milk and tofu when they detect breast nodules and bone loss during menopause, fearing that phytoestrogens will stimulate the lesions. My best friend, who is 48 years old, had a bone density T-score of -1.6 during a physical examination last year, which is the critical line of osteopenia. I heard from my neighbor that soy milk will aggravate hyperplasia. She eats white porridge with mustard for breakfast every day. As a result, she has three or four hot flashes every afternoon, and she lies in bed for two hours at night before she can fall asleep. Later, I asked her to change her breakfast to 250ml of whole milk + a fistful of multi-grain woofou + 200ml of light soy milk. According to the dietary guidelines for menopausal women released by the Chinese Nutrition Society in 2023, it is recommended that 30-50g of soy products should be consumed every day (about the amount of a cup of soy milk plus half a piece of northern tofu). The two-way regulatory effect of soy isoflavones will not increase the risk of breast disease, but can reduce the incidence of postmenopausal breast cancer and the frequency of hot flashes. She has been following this for three months, and her bone density has not dropped any further since last month's review. She has hot flashes at most once a day, and her sleep has improved for the most part. Of course, there are different research conclusions. Some European and American studies believe that high-risk groups with severe breast hyperplasia and BRCA gene mutations should be cautious about consuming large amounts of soy products. Therefore, there is no need to adhere to strict standards. If you really feel breast swelling and pain after drinking soy milk, then reduce the amount and switch to mixed beans such as chickpeas and lentils that also contain phytochemicals. What is best for you is the best.

Don’t just take supplements here and there. What many people ignore is the issue of sugar. I met a 51-year-old aunt last month. She and her older sisters would buy a cup of full-sugar bubble milk tea after dancing every day, saying that she would gain more energy through sweating. As a result, she had frequent hot flashes during that period, and her face would turn red at every turn. When she checked, her fasting blood sugar had reached the critical value of 6.2. In fact, after the decrease in estrogen during menopause, the body's ability to regulate blood sugar will drop by about 30%. If you eat too much refined sugar, your blood sugar will fluctuate rapidly, which will aggravate the problems of hot flashes and emotional irritability. It’s not that you can’t eat sweets at all. It’s perfectly fine to eat a piece of cake or drink a cup of milk tea occasionally. Just don’t treat it as a daily standard. Usually, replace white rice and white steamed buns with 1/3 to 1/2 of whole grains, such as oats, quinoa, and sweet potatoes. This will give you a strong feeling of fullness and stable blood sugar. There is also coffee, which everyone has asked about a lot, and it doesn’t need to be beaten to death. My mother drank a hot latte every day during menopause for almost five years. There are no problems in the physical examination, and her mood is more stable than before. If you feel flustered and unable to sleep after drinking it, just switch to light tea instead of forcing it.

Many people during menopause do not dare to eat meat because they are afraid of gaining weight. They eat boiled vegetables every day. I had a previous visitor who was 52 years old. He only ate boiled vegetables in three months. He lost 7 pounds, but he shed tears at every turn. His legs felt weak after climbing the third floor and he always suffered from cramps. In fact, menopausal women lose about 2% of their muscle mass every year, and lose calcium three times faster than when they were young. They need to drink 300-500ml of milk every day, eat enough 1 egg, 2 taels of lean meat/fish and shrimp, and a small handful of original nuts. These high-quality proteins can not only help you maintain muscle mass, but also stabilize serotonin levels and stabilize your mood. There is no need to be superstitious about bone soup when it comes to calcium supplements. A pot of bone soup contains less calcium than half a carton of milk, and it contains a lot of fat. Drinking too much can lead to high blood lipids. Eat more dark green vegetables, sesame paste, and spend 15 minutes in the sun every day to replenish vitamin D. This can basically meet your calcium absorption needs.

As for whether health products such as royal jelly and snow clams, which are the most frequently asked questions, can be eaten, there are currently two schools of thought that have very different opinions. One school believes that the content of animal-derived estrogen is uncertain, and eating it may increase the risk of enlarging uterine fibroids and breast nodules. The other school believes that eating a small amount can significantly relieve discomfort. The existing evidence-based evidence does not give clear recommendations or contraindications. However, in the cases I have come into contact with, most people with benign gynecological nodules will experience swelling and pain after taking such products, so it is not recommended to use them to be on the safe side. If hot flashes or insomnia are really serious, don’t just take health care products on your own. First, go to the gynecological endocrinology department to register and evaluate whether hormone replacement therapy can be done. Taking medicines according to the doctor’s instructions is much safer than eating health care products with unknown ingredients.

In fact, menopause is really not a scourge, and there is no need to make your diet as if it is a task. If you want to eat braised pork ribs today, or drink an iced Americano tomorrow, it’s no problem. As long as you don’t feel uncomfortable after eating it, and the indicators such as bone density, blood sugar, and blood lipids in the physical examination are stable, it is better than anything else, right? After all, if you eat happily and feel better, half of the menopausal discomforts can be alleviated.