What To Eat During The Perimenopause and Menopause 

Why do I recommend this style of eating over any other?

This is because Mediterranean style eating consistently shows whole body & mind anti inflammatory benefits in the perimenopause & menopause, including support with weight balance. 

There is good evidence that this style of eating offers improved longevity & quality of life. In my clinic work, I have been impressed at how beneficial this style of eating is for women, both their energy & mood, as well as for weight balance.

Mediterranean style eating is a plant focused way of eating. This does not mean that it is entirely plant based.
One of the key components to the Med style of eating is it's potential to reduce inflammation.

In July 2021 on Instagram here, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr Simon Poole, author of 'The Real Mediterranean Diet' . His book explains in great detail the health benefits of Med style eating. If you would like to know more about these foods, I can recommend his book. 

Here is a list of the Med style foods unique beneficial nutritional components:

*High in fibre
*High in polyphenols (natural plant compounds that have anti inflammatory effects in the body)
*High in prebiotics (food to feed the beneficial gut microbiota)
*High in omega-3 & extra virgin olive oils
*Variety of protein sources, not reliant on meat

“Mediterranean foods and the Med style of eating, consistently shows best results in my clinic with women in perimenopause & menopause " 

Most people can adapt their foods to predominately meet the Mediterranean style of eating, even if they don’t live around the Mediterranean.
All the recipes here on my website use the Mediterranean style, anti inflammatory, food principals at their core!

Loads of vegetables
Whole grains
Legumes/pluses/beans
Plenty of extra virgin olive oil - used in cooking & added onto cold dishes
Nuts & seeds
Herbs & spices
Fruit
Fermented Dairy - eg yoghurt, cheese
Seafood/fish
Optional small amount of meat.

Mediterranean style eating is as important for mental health, as it is for physical health.

Along with the anti inflammatory oils and polyphenols in Med style eating, there is plenty of fibre, from a variety of sources.

Eating fibre doesn’t sound very exciting or joyful. And mental health is very important to your quality of life. So, how are they related?

In perimenopause & menopause low mood, anxiety, foggy head thinking, loss of joy, lack of energy & poor stress coping can be common. It’s out of balance & declining hormones that’s likely to be behind these issues.

Whole foods high in fibre, like those found Mediterranean style eating, provide the body with nutrition that supports cognition & helps to improve mood.

So what can you do?

Many of the people I see in clinic don’t have the energy to overhaul their eating.
If that’s you, that’s ok, since it takes only one or two incredibly simple changes to get the ball rolling.

The way to start off is to introduce in more natural gentle fibre to what you are eating. Fibre is found in vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, pulses/legumes/beans, fruit - all the fabulous foods of the Mediterranean. 

The idea is to get more fibre into what we eat. Fibre helps to naturally & gently support your gut, feed your beneficial gut microbes & in return helps mood & cognition.
I’d go as far as saying that doing these simple things can bring more joy into our lives and helps us flourish. It certainly has for me.

Let’s not forget exercise, HRT and routine as potential helpers in establishing balance.
There are things that can be done, beyond eating Mediterranean style foods & extra fibre, to support & improve hormonal responses:

*Speak with your GP to consider topping up those declining hormones through hormone replacement namely Body-Indentical HRT.
*Share your feelings with someone close to you if you are feeling low. 
*If you have the energy then exercising is really helpful too.
*Try to go to sleep early enough to get 7-8 hours in bed each night (for more about sleep, see my post here)