By Darlene Kvist, MS, CNS, LN

Today up to 70 million American women are menopausal.   As a nutritionist, I have come to realize that most of these women have two major complaints: weight gain and mood swings.

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a million times, “I can live with hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness, but I can’t live with this fat around my middle.”  Further, they say, “Sometimes I’m so crabby I can’t stand myself.” 

As a nutritionist, I often think, “She looks great, but maybe she should be concerned about osteoporosis and heart disease, cancer or diabetes.”  But no, it is the pounds around the middle that is the stressor.  Yes, it is true that up to 75 percent of women (against their will) gain weight at menopause.

The science of menopausal metabolism points to two major hormones, estrogen and progesterone.  Many menopausal women have excess estrogen and a deficiency of progesterone. Estrogen is the hormone that gives women ample curves, attractive breasts and youthful skin.

However, too much estrogen causes too many curves—or you might say, bulges.  Farmers have known this for years.  They use a little synthetic estrogen to fatten their cattle. But women say to themselves, “I don’t take any form of estrogen. Why do I have too much?”  The sad truth is that estrogen comes from our food supply and our food choices.  Our bodies make more estrogen when we eat too many processed carbohydrates.  Insulin, the master hormone, is secreted from the pancreas in response to sugar and processed carbohydrates. Insulin stores fat and also causes our bodies to make more estrogen.

The bagel, glass of juice, and latte that once worked for breakfast is now too high in sugar, creating an insulin response.  Insulin produces more estrogen, which creates more fat cells, which make more estrogen that creates more fat cells.  So, your waist size increases, and the jeans won’t snap! At this time in life, you need to reduce the processed carbohydrates, which will reduce the amount of glucose in your blood.

With balanced blood sugar levels, less insulin is needed and less body fat is created.  For better metabolism at menopause, eat less bread, cereal, pasta and sodas. Instead, start eating more vegetables, real protein and healthy fats.

Your food supply may also be part of the problem.  Unless the meat you eat is labeled “no hormones added,” you are probably eating meat with added hormones.  Many commercial farmers of beef and sheep use hormones to promote rapid weight gain in their animals.  The US government has declared this practice safe, but the European Union has concluded that meat from animals fed hormones is bad for human health. In fact, the EU does not allow American meat to be sold in its member countries. (Source: What to Eat by Marion Nestle)

The US officials stand behind their statement that hormone-produced meat is safe. However, more and more, informed US citizens are concerned about meat safety and are buying organic meat or natural meat with no added hormones.  Perhaps the best choice is organic, grass-fed meat which contains CLA (conjugated linoleic acid).  Grass-fed animals have twice as much CLA as animals fed grains, and numerous studies have shown that CLA promotes healthy metabolism.

Perimenopause and menopause are times when women need to pay attention to nutrition and food choices in order to maintain normal weight and a sense of well-being.  Nutrition is complex, especially for women approaching menopause. Weight gain or mood swings might be the result of an insulin response or poor food choices, but there are other possible causes. Lack of sleep, too much stress, insufficient progesterone, adrenal exhaustion, and inflammation all may contribute to your menopausal issues.  Interestingly, all these factors have a nutrition connection. 

At Nutritional Weight and Wellness, we agree with Margaret Meade, the famous anthropologist who said, “The most creative force in the world is the menopausal woman with zest.”  Nutrition is your best resource for experiencing zest at this time of life.

Finally, I leave you with the advice of Ann Louise Gittleman, my mentor and the author of over thirty nutrition books. She advised, “Keeping our bodies in biochemical balance is a lifetime adventure that will assure that our passage through each stage of life is filled with zest. The time to prepare is now.”