Today I am going to focus on my older patients and I want to dedicate this post to them especially, because they play at a disadvantage when it comes to losing weight, since they are in the climacteric period.

That makes their hormones difficult to lose, and therefore do not depend exclusively on them. I will briefly explain what this period consists of, the symptoms, how to treat it and which diet is best for them to lose that excess fat.

What is menopause?

Menopause is a time in a woman’s life characterized by the cessation of menstruation , and which begins a stage of life known as the climacteric.

In this stage, metabolic and hormonal changes take place, since the woman begins to progressively lose her ovarian function and therefore the production of female hormones, estrogens and progesterone decreases. This period occurs between 48 and 54 years, approximately.

The symptoms experienced by women are:

• Irregular rules
• Hot flashes, headaches, palpitations, and sweats
• Dizziness and vertigo
• Insomnia and other sleep disturbances
• Pain during intercourse and vaginal dryness
• Emotional changes and temporary depressions
• Weight gain
• Increased risk of cardiovascular disease
• Osteoporosis

I am going to focus on the last four, since they are the ones with which food can be dealt with.

Emotional changes and temporary depressions

During the transition to menopause, some women develop new mood problems, such as sadness , trouble concentrating, and feelings of disinterest in normal activities.

Women with a history of depression may feel more labile during the transition to menopause . For this, I recommend that you read my post: The happiness diet , there you will find the answer.

Weight gain

In this period abdominal fat increases. Since there is a lack of estrogens, fat accumulates in the abdominal area and the body is less efficient at burning dietary fat, so it tends to store it.

For these two reasons, fat is concentrated in the abdomen, changing the woman’s body and making it more apple-shaped (fat above the waist), more characteristic of men, than pear-shaped (fat below the waist). ), more characteristic of women.

Increase in cardiovascular disease

Increased abdominal fat causes total cholesterol to rise , as well as LDL (the harmful one), while HDL (the healthy one) drops. It should not be forgotten that a high HDL level is a protective factor against cardiovascular diseases, which is why at this age the heart attack rate between men and women is equal. During this stage it is also very common to observe an increase in blood pressure.

Osteoporosis

Bone health weakens. Alterations occur in the homeostatic regulation of body calcium that promote bone loss. For this, the diet must be rich in calcium and vitamin D (this vitamin helps the absorption of calcium) although at this age no more calcium can be stored in the bones.

It is up to the age of 21 that the body stores calcium and that is why it is at that time where it is really important to have a diet rich in calcium and vitamin D. However, although in menopausal stage it is not stored if it is absorbed and given the decrease in bone health will be essential to meet those needs that are increased.

So what should the diet be like for a menopausal woman?

If you are in this stage and want to eat a healthy diet and lose weight, this is the guideline to follow:

• Increase the consumption of phytoestrogens, present in foods of plant origin and especially in soy isoflavones.
• Increase the consumption of dairy products, oily fish, green leafy vegetables or foods enriched in calcium and vitamin D.
• Eat foods rich in soluble fiber (fruits, vegetables, legumes, oats …) and omega 3 (nuts, oily fish …) to help lower cholesterol levels.
• Reduce to the maximum the saturated fats present especially in meats, processed meats, sausages, sweets and industrial pastries …
• On the contrary, increase the consumption of unsaturated fats (olive and sunflower oil, nuts, oily fish …).
• And as always, and not to mention the last thing is less important, physical activity! You will gain muscle mass, you will increase your basal metabolism (you will consume more calories at rest), you will strengthen your bones and all this will improve your cardiovascular health.

And my last advice is that you do not wait to undergo all these changes, start now. Start taking care of yourself. Take care of your health with my help, I can guide you and help you achieve your goals .

You have at your disposal a totally free first  online  visit without any commitment. In this visit we will delve a little more about your case and thus I will be able to give you some advice that best suits you.

Do you want to start feeling better? I wait for you in my consultation