Moments from Menopause

So back to nutrition and away from the memory loss issues, before I forget what I want to say! Eating well, before, during and after menopause can really make the present and rest of your life better. Even in basic nutrition classes in schools, we are all taught the building blocks of good nutrition. Protein, fiber, vitamins, and recently, antioxidants have been added to the mix. Organic may be better just because the pesticides and hormone additives that  commercial growers put in their foods may be harmful down the road in our health. But there are some things that we've always eaten since childhood that are really not that great for us during this time. I'll talk about a few of those today. Refined foods. What, exactly, are these you ask? Well,  these are "foods" that have basically been stripped of their nutritive value. The two biggest  refined foods we know are sugar and white flour. Two items which just so happen to be in almost every food product we bu

“Memory is all we are. Moments and feelings, captured in amber, strung on filaments of reason. Take a man’s memories and you take all of him. Chip away a memory at a time and you destroy him as surely as if you hammered nail after nail through his skull.”  ―  Mark Lawrence ,  King of Thorns Dory: I suffer from short term  memory loss . It runs in my family... At least I think it does... Where are they? ~  Finding Nemo "Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film!" unknown. I 'm taking a little departure here from nutrition for a reason. I'll get back to it soon, but something came up the other day that I just had to document. And from the above quotes you can probably figure out what it is! A famous writer I know posted on her facebook page the following (I've changed it a little to keep her anonymous!) "Turned the page of my day planner this morning to see that I had written myself a reminder: "CALL ***!" And

" All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!" Charles Schultz,creator of Peanuts Isn't it true? Doesn't a little chocolate go a long way in helping with life's crises and mishaps?! Unfortunately, during menopause, chocolate, and the natural caffeine in it, may be a hot flash trigger. Hopefully by now you are keeping a flash diary, or at least you are able to discern what foods/events/times of the day are more triggers than others. For me, hot stuff like tea triggered  major flashes, so I started drinking caffeine free tea in the morning, just one cup instead of my usual four before leaving for work. Just that little change helped eliminate the hot drink flashes and sweats. There are some foods that you should avoid during menopause, not only because they may be symptomatic triggers, but also because they might not be good for your body during this stressful time. We talked about taking in too much protein in  the last blo