Menopause refers to the period of cessation of menstruation when women show signs of loss of reproductive function. Menopause is a natural process of physical change, and as the ovaries age and function deteriorates, ovulation and the production of female hormones are no longer performed. Menopause is usually diagnosed when there is no menstruation for a year, and these changes usually vary from person to person depending on constitution, nutritional status, and number of deliveries, but usually starts in the mid to late 40s and progresses gradually. During menopause, there are many symptoms such as hot flashes, headache, dizziness, tinnitus, insomnia, gastrointestinal disorders, and mental disorders. Menopause is also called middle-aged puberty because it causes various physical and mental abnormalities. Also, during menopause, hormonal changes in the body can lead to rapid weight gain. Estrogen, a female hormone, plays a role in promoting fat metabolism and making people gain less weight. In particular, weight gain during menopause can increase the exposure of women to various chronic diseases and diseases such as uterine fibroids and breast cancer. In order to solve this problem, if you continue to exercise excessively and the wrong diet that reduces the intake of extreme forms of nutrition, you may have the opposite effect that harms your health. Therefore, it can be said that it is important to implement a diet suitable for one’s current body condition. So today, let’s look at various ways to lose weight in a healthy way during menopause. How to diet for menopause
1. Continuous strength training
During menopause, the decrease in female hormone secretion leads to a body condition in which muscles fall out more easily. Such muscle reduction lowers the basal metabolic rate, which is closely related to the normal metabolism of our body, making it easier to accumulate fat and increasing the risk of various complications. Therefore, it is desirable to continue strength training to prevent muscle loss. It is also very important to do aerobic exercise such as walking, running and swimming together to increase basal metabolic rate and improve cardiorespiratory function. In addition, regular exercise plays an important role in the smooth synthesis and secretion of serotonin, which is called the happiness hormone, so it has a good effect in helping to improve psychological symptoms such as depression and anxiety disorders that are easy to occur during menopause. However, sudden high-intensity exercise can easily cause fatigue and damage to joints and muscles, so it is recommended to set the amount of exercise according to your physical fitness range and then increase the amount of exercise in a gradual manner.
2. A balanced diet
In addition to the aforementioned steady exercise habits, a balanced diet is also one of the most important habits during menopause diet. Consuming too little food can lead to nutritional imbalance. Therefore, rather than reducing food intake too much, it is important to manage health while paying attention to nutritional balance by changing the composition of the diet and consuming nutrients that are essential for the body, such as high-quality protein, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. In addition, as you enter menopause, your basal metabolic rate decreases and it is easy to accumulate fat even if you consume the same calories.
3. Controlling the amount of alcohol consumed
Properly controlling the amount of alcohol consumed is one of the most important management methods for menopausal diet. When alcohol enters the body, the liver uses all of its energy to break down alcohol. In addition, continuous drinking habits are the cause of exacerbating the physical and mental abnormalities that tend to occur during menopause. Therefore, it is desirable to properly control the amount of drinking and refrain from binge drinking and excessive drinking.
4. Avoid extreme forms of diet
A raw food diet that continuously consumes one food for a certain period of time or an unreasonable diet that dramatically reduces food intake puts a great strain on the body, regardless of age. Since menopause is a period of physical abnormalities caused by insufficient secretion of female hormones, excessive dieting has a more adverse effect on the body. In particular, malnutrition due to diet can lead to deficiencies in protein, calcium, and vitamin D, which are essential for menopausal women, which can increase the risk of osteoporosis, arthritis, and cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, excessive diet habits should be avoided, and a healthy diet should be maintained through proper eating and exercise habits. If you cannot control your weight through these various methods, it is a good way to consult with an expert to find out the root cause of gaining weight and solve it step by step.
