A little change goes a long way...
" 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 blog. Other foods to be concerned about are:
1. Dairy products.
Now, we know we need calcium, but dairy products come from cows, mostly, so there's that problem with the animal protein content again. Also, cheese, milk and cream contain a byproduct called casein.
Human breast milk has 300 times less casein than cow's milk, making many believe that we were never meant to drink milk from anything other than our mothers' bodies. Also, dairy products can be very high in saturated fats, and remembering our blog on heart disease,you want to keep your saturated fats at a minimum to decrease your chance of cardiac problems. This is a quote from the book Healthy Eating During Menopause:
With low-fat dairy products, the protein content will be higher as part of the fat will have been removed. However, the higher the protein content the more calcium you will lose and the greater the risk to your bones. So, although your heart may benefit by eating low-fat products, your bones will not! Ultimately, it is much better to buy dairy foods the way nature intended and eat them in moderation.
This kind of sounds like damned if you and damned if you don't thinking, but it makes absolute sense during this time of your life. Whole milk, in a sparse amount, will go a long way to being more beneficial for your body than drinking copious amounts of skim!
And even though we do need both calcium and protein, especially during menopause, we don't need to get the calcium exclusively from milk products or in the form of vitamin supplements. Lots of good tasting foods contain calcium, like almonds, broccoli, and sesame seeds, just to name a few.
2. Soda
I will admit to being a total soda-a-holic. I drink the worst: Diet Mountain Dew, by the jug. This year for Lent I gave up soda as my Lenten Sacrifice. After forty days sans Dew, my joints and my knees particularly, no longer hurt, I was able to fall asleep and more importantly stay asleep, and my general mood had improved tremendously. Then I found out exactly why: carbonated drinks, aka soda, contain huge amounts of phosphorous. What does phosphorous do in our bodies, you ask? Well, it leeches out calcium from the bones. Who knew?!. And what does calcium do for us? Keeps out bones and joints strong. So if you want to keep the bones in your body strong and supple, and avoid all those old lady diseases like a dowagers' hump and brittle bone issues, eliminate the soda. The caffeine, too!
More foods to avoid next time!
Go have a healthy snack! you deserve it.
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 blog. Other foods to be concerned about are:
1. Dairy products.
Now, we know we need calcium, but dairy products come from cows, mostly, so there's that problem with the animal protein content again. Also, cheese, milk and cream contain a byproduct called casein.
Human breast milk has 300 times less casein than cow's milk, making many believe that we were never meant to drink milk from anything other than our mothers' bodies. Also, dairy products can be very high in saturated fats, and remembering our blog on heart disease,you want to keep your saturated fats at a minimum to decrease your chance of cardiac problems. This is a quote from the book Healthy Eating During Menopause:
With low-fat dairy products, the protein content will be higher as part of the fat will have been removed. However, the higher the protein content the more calcium you will lose and the greater the risk to your bones. So, although your heart may benefit by eating low-fat products, your bones will not! Ultimately, it is much better to buy dairy foods the way nature intended and eat them in moderation.
This kind of sounds like damned if you and damned if you don't thinking, but it makes absolute sense during this time of your life. Whole milk, in a sparse amount, will go a long way to being more beneficial for your body than drinking copious amounts of skim!
And even though we do need both calcium and protein, especially during menopause, we don't need to get the calcium exclusively from milk products or in the form of vitamin supplements. Lots of good tasting foods contain calcium, like almonds, broccoli, and sesame seeds, just to name a few.
2. Soda
I will admit to being a total soda-a-holic. I drink the worst: Diet Mountain Dew, by the jug. This year for Lent I gave up soda as my Lenten Sacrifice. After forty days sans Dew, my joints and my knees particularly, no longer hurt, I was able to fall asleep and more importantly stay asleep, and my general mood had improved tremendously. Then I found out exactly why: carbonated drinks, aka soda, contain huge amounts of phosphorous. What does phosphorous do in our bodies, you ask? Well, it leeches out calcium from the bones. Who knew?!. And what does calcium do for us? Keeps out bones and joints strong. So if you want to keep the bones in your body strong and supple, and avoid all those old lady diseases like a dowagers' hump and brittle bone issues, eliminate the soda. The caffeine, too!
More foods to avoid next time!
Go have a healthy snack! you deserve it.
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