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Perimenopause Diet Plan
Perimenopause can be a confronting milestone in our life. As our body transitions toward menopause, our period becomes unpredictable and irregular. Resulting in symptoms such as vaginal dryness, hot flashes, and changes in mood, including depression. Our body’s hormone levels continually adjust, as estrogen and progesterone shift. Those confronting signs of aging combined with ongoing unpredictability can make the months leading into menopause feel like a real struggle.
While the changes are inevitable, we are not completely powerless to act. This article will teach you how to manage symptoms with a perimenopause diet plan. We discuss how it impacts the body, how to create a balanced diet, and a sample meal plan loaded with key vitamins to optimize your health.
Understanding Perimenopause and Its Impact on Nutrition
There is no about about it, perimenopause can have a serious impact on your body; one facet in particular being nutrition. As we go through perimenopause, our body begins to decrease estrogen. When this happens, our metabolism declines, while hunger-suppressing effects diminish. This creates a swing that results in higher calorie intake, and increased weight gain.
The reduction in estrogen also leads to an increased risk of obesity, metabolic syndromes, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis increases. These factors are compounded by women’s age related-weight gain of 10kg on average between 40 and 60 (regardless of menopause). Not to mention age-related muscle loss due to a reduced capacity to synthesize protein; leading to a significant decline in our metabolic and functional health.
Effective Perimenopause Diet Plan for Health and Symptom Management
The unpredictability of perimenopause often leads to feelings of frustration. However, while our physiology recalibrates, we can modify our diet to manage symptoms and regain control. Diet and nutrition can reduce symptoms with research indicating that losing just 5kg can improve the tolerability of hot flashes by 30%. Additionally, exercise also plays a vital role in improving metabolic health and has been shown to reduce the intensity of hot flashes.
For more guidance, consider following our perimenopause weight loss tips and strategies to help you navigate this transition effectively.
Improving your nutrition by eating protein-rich, nutrient-dense foods can help stabilize weight, and maintain lean muscle and bone mass. Many women during perimenopause and menopause undertake the 1200-calorie menopause diet. This is a low-calorie, nutrient-dense diet, created to reduce overall calorie intake to maintain a healthy weight; reducing the risk of chronic illness.
The focus on high protein preserves lean muscle mass, helping us maintain function and bone mineral density. While eating a range of nutrient-dense foods helps fuel our body, and reduce perimenopausal symptoms.
Key Nutrients for a Healthy Diet Plan for Perimenopause
When creating a diet plan for perimenopause we must focus on a range of key nutrients. Below we will detail all the essential vitamins and minerals, including the best food sources so you can see how achievable it is to create a healthy perimenopause diet.
Essential Vitamins, Minerals, and Best Foods
Discover key nutrients essential for maintaining health, complete with the best food sources and their primary benefits:
- Protein
- Foods: Poultry, fish, soy, oats, liver, nuts, seeds
- Purpose: Maintains skeletal muscle mass and keeps you fuller for longer.
- Carbohydrates
- Foods: Whole grains, brown rice
- Purpose: Sustains energy levels.
- Fiber
- Foods: Fruit, vegetables, oats, barley, legumes
- Purpose: Provides volume to meals and keeps you full.
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids
- Foods: Salmon, mackerel, sardines, nuts, seeds, leafy greens
- Purpose: Has anti-inflammatory properties that reduce night sweats and hot flashes.
- Calcium
- Foods: Low-fat dairy, yogurt, sardines, soymilk, tofu, spinach
- Purpose: Maintains bone health.
- Vitamin D
- Foods: Salmon, mushrooms, low-fat milk, soy
- Purpose: Promotes calcium absorption and assists with bone remodeling and growth.
- Vitamin B Complex
- Foods: Whole grains, quinoa, oats, spinach, broccoli
- Purpose: Regulates hormones and reduces night sweats and hot flashes.
- Phytoestrogen
- Foods: Nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables
- Purpose: Helpful for maintaining estrogen levels.
Each nutrient listed plays a crucial role in various bodily functions, ensuring you stay healthy and energetic. Integrating these foods into your daily diet can help you meet your nutritional needs and enhance overall well-being.
Protein
As we age our ability to synthesize protein decreases; resulting in a decline in skeletal muscle mass. This sees a reduction in strength and function; increasing in frailty. Including dietary protein in your perimenopause diet is essential for maintaining muscle mass. Research recommends consuming 1.2g/kg of body weight per day to reduce frailty maintain muscle mass and reduce frailty.
We recommend creating each meal with a lean protein source such as chicken, eggs, fish, nuts, and seeds to hit your daily protein targets. This will also keep you fuller for longer, helping reduce cravings, overeating, and unnecessary weight gain.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are essential for a perimenopause diet, providing energy and adding volume to our meals. Complex carbohydrates through whole-grain including brown rice, oats, and quinoa are low on the glycemic index, which provides a steady energy source for the day. Whole grain foods are packed with dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals and have been associated with reductions in obesity, cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, cancer, and other chronic diseases. This makes them powerful components of your perimenopause diet.
Fiber
Dietary fiber is vital for a perimenopause diet. Found in whole foods, including fruit, vegetables, oats, and legumes; fiber is beneficial for reducing the effects of illnesses including cardiovascular disease, and colonic and gut health. It’s also incredible for regulating appetite, providing volume to our meals, decreasing cravings, and keeping us full. However, the modern diet contains many processed foods that lack dietary fiber. This leads us to reach for more unhealthy, processed, calorie-dense food options that can lead to major weight gain; a common occurrence during perimenopause.
Adding fiber to your perimenopause diet by eating fresh fruit, vegetables, oats, barley, and legumes will help sustain your energy levels, reducing cravings; while improving overall health.
Omega-3
Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for your perimenopause diet. As our estrogen levels fluctuate and begin to decline, inflammation can rise. This results in the dreaded night sweats, hot flashes, joint pain, and increased risk of chronic illness. Boosting your omega-3 intake through foods such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, nuts, seeds, and leafy greens can alleviate these symptoms and improve overall health and quality of life.
Calcium
Calcium is an important component of your diet, with its major role being maintaining bone health. Estrogen plays a vital role in bone growth and maturation. However, when our estrogen levels decrease, we can experience a decline in bone health, leading to conditions such as osteoporosis. Creating a diet based on calcium-rich food including low-fat dairy, yogurt, sardines, soymilk, tofu, and spinach can help us maintain bone mass while reducing the risk of fractures and frailty.
Vitamin D
Much like calcium, vitamin D is crucial for bone health. Important for calcium absorption, bone remodeling, and growth, eating a diet rich in vitamin D can be a game-changer for anyone going through perimenopause. Foods such as salmon, mushrooms, low-fat milk, and soy are all excellent sources of vitamin D. Sunlight is the most valuable source of vitamin, allowing our skin to absorb elevated levels which can reduce the risk of chronic disease.
Vitamin B
Vitamin B is essential for hormone regulation. During perimenopause, our hormones can feel like they are constantly changing, which contributes to night sweats and hot flashes. Foods such as whole grains, quinoa, oats, spinach, and broccoli are rich in vitamin B, which can be pivotal in easing perimenopause symptoms.
Phytoestrogen
As estrogen levels gradually decline, the risk of inflammation and chronic illness increases. This is where phytoestrogen comes in. Phytoestrogen is an estrogen-like compound derived from plants that is beneficial for reproductive, heart, bone, and skin health; while supporting our immune system. Loading your meals with phytoestrogen-rich foods including nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables can help you maintain these estrogen levels. Improving overall health, and staving off inflammation and chronic disease.
Foods to Avoid During Perimenopause
During perimenopause, we should avoid eating processed, sugary, and fatty foods. As estrogen declines so does our metabolism and ability to suppress hunger; leading us to snack and make poor food choices. Sadly, these calorie-dense, low-quality processed foods do provide comfort but lack the essential nutrients to keep us full and manage our perimenopause symptoms. Due to the decrease in metabolism, eating these foods will eventually result in weight gain.
Foods such as processed, fried foods, soft drinks, sugary treats, and refined grains fit into this category.
Easy Perimenopause Diet Options
Diets and meal plans for perimenopause doesn’t have to be complicated. Reviewing our table of essential vitamins, minerals, and best foods, you will see that many foods are listed in multiple categories. This makes it easy to mix and match different foods and still hit your nutrient targets. Below we have listed a range of quick snacks, and nutritious meals for perimenopause.
Breakfast Options
- Vegetable omelet (eggs, spinach, tomato, avocado)
- Granola (nuts, seeds, oats, low-fat yogurt, berries, low-fat milk)
- Poach eggs, quinoa, tomato, avocado, whole grain toast
- Fruit salad, mixed berries, banana,
Lunch Ideas
- Grilled chicken salad (spinach, avocado, red onion, tomato)
- Mediterranean white bean sardine salad (sardines, white beans, tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, and parsley; with a light Dijon mustard, lime juice, garlic dressing
Dinner Recipes
- Air-fried cauliflower fritters with garlic yogurt
- Baked lemon and herb salmon with quinoa and mixed vegetables
Healthy Snacks
- Berry and Banan protein shake
- Handful of mixed nuts
- Mixed berry with yogurt
- Small sardine and quinoa salad
Creating a Balanced Diet Plan for Perimenopause
Creating a balanced diet plan is the key to building a successful perimenopause diet plan. Each meal should contain a source of protein and fiber to keep you full and vitamin B, and omega-3 to manage symptoms.
Perimenopause Healthy 7 day Eating Plan
Below is a sample 7-day eating plan to show you how regaining control of your nutrition can be. Explore a diverse and nutritious meal plan designed to provide balanced meals throughout your week. Each day includes options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack.
Day 1
- Breakfast: Vegetable omelet with low-fat cheese, spinach, tomato, and avocado.
- Lunch: Grilled chicken salad with spinach, kale, tomato, and red onion.
- Dinner: Tuna steak with sweet potato mash and mixed vegetables.
- Snack: Banana berry protein smoothie.
Day 2
- Breakfast: Granola with low-fat milk, yogurt, and berries.
- Lunch: Mediterranean sardine and white bean salad.
- Dinner: Baked lemon and herb chicken with brown rice and mixed vegetables.
- Snack: Fruit, nuts, and seeds mix.
Day 3
- Breakfast: Poached eggs and quinoa salad with tomato, red onion, and avocado.
- Lunch: Sardine and quinoa salad with chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, lemon juice, tomato, and red onion.
- Dinner: Air-fried chicken and cauliflower fritters with garlic yogurt.
- Snack: Baby carrots and hummus.
Day 4
- Breakfast: Berry & banana protein smoothie.
- Lunch: Baked chicken with sweet potato, spinach, and kale.
- Dinner: Whole wheat tuna pasta.
- Snack: Small fruit salad.
Day 5
- Breakfast: Scrambled eggs on whole grain toast with avocado and tomato.
- Lunch: Grilled chicken salad with spinach, kale, tomato, and red onion.
- Dinner: Grilled chicken in whole wheat soft shell tacos.
- Snack: Fruit, nuts, and seeds mix.
Day 6
- Breakfast: Overnight oats with low-fat yogurt, berries, and chia seeds.
- Lunch: Baked lemon and turmeric salad with quinoa and mixed vegetables.
- Dinner: Chicken pizza with low-fat cheese and leafy greens.
- Snack: Banana & berry smoothie.
Day 7
- Breakfast: Whole wheat protein pancakes with mixed fruit.
- Lunch: Air-fried salmon and quinoa salad with lemon, chia seeds, tomato, and avocado.
- Dinner: Tuna steak with brown rice and mixed vegetables.
- Snack: Baby carrots and tzatziki dip.
Conclusion and Next Steps
The impact perimenopause has on our bodies can leave us feeling helpless. The weight gain, joint aches, hot flashes, and night sweats can feel like a sudden hit that impairs quality of life. Creating a perimenopause diet plan loaded with protein, fiber, omega-3, calcium, vitamins B and D can help manage weight, reduce inflammation, and onset of chronic disease.
Fortunately, you now have a list of healthy foods which cover all the bases. So when it comes time to put together a delicious nutrient-dense dish, you know your meals will be loaded with everything you need to battle those dreaded perimenopausal symptoms. So, what are you waiting for? Get cooking and start experimenting. These adjustments to your nutrition now can improve your quality of life which will last you well into the future.
