By the time a woman reaches 45, signs such as hot flashes, mood swings and irregular periods may become more frequent — clear indications that she is now in menopause.

Menopause is the time that marks the end of a woman’s menstrual cycles. It usually occurs sometime between the ages of 45 and 55 and is normally caused by the woman’s ovaries ceasing their production of the hormones estrogen and progesterone.

This period is usually marked by the appearance of certain signs and symptoms, including sleep problems, mood changes, weight gain and slowed-down metabolism.

These symptoms can be quite disruptive to women’s normal routines and day-to-day lives, making them quite troublesome, to say the very least.

But did you know that there is a possibility that this condition can actually be pushed back through the use of food?

This is according to the findings of a study conducted by researchers from the University of Leeds, which noted that eating certain foods can either delay or speed up menopause’s onset.

Food can help delay the onset of menopause

According to the research team, they first looked at data collected from more than 35,000 women, to get to this conclusion. They found that certain foods exerted influence on the onset of menopause.

For example, grapes, fatty fish, legumes and dietary zinc and vitamin B6 were all associated with menopause’s delayed onset, while refined carbohydrates from pasta and rice were found to have sped the process up.

This can be explained by the foods’ nutrient content. For instance, grapes, legumes and oily fish contain antioxidants and healthy fats — all of which are known to play a role in healthy egg maturation and release — thereby staving off menopause.

Refined carbohydrates, on the other hand, help increase the risk of insulin resistance, which can then interfere with sex hormone activity. This, according to experts, can boost estrogen levels which can then increase the number of menstrual cycles and thus deplete your egg supply at a much faster rate

But the researchers noted that their study was not a controlled experiment and that it cannot prove that eating particular foods might have influenced menopause timing.

Furthermore, while avoiding the more disruptive signs of menopause may be a good thing, it is still not entirely clear if actively delaying menopause is beneficial in the long run, lead author Yashvee Dunneram said.

This is because while early menopause can be linked to an increased risk of heart disease, osteoporosis and depression, it is also known to help protect women against certain cancers, including those of the breasts and ovaries.

Which foods can help relieve the signs of menopause?

While the actual relationship between foods and the onset of menopause still needs to be looked into, one thing that’s clear is that changes to your diet can help reduce the severity of certain menopause symptoms such as hot flashes, poor sleep and reduced bone density.

Some of the foods you can eat to help relieve the peskier, more disruptive signs of menopause are the following:

Dairy products can help decrease the risk of menopause-related fractures

Women often experience significant drops in their estrogen — a hormone necessary for optimal bone health — during menopause. This means that a woman’s risk of getting fractures increases during menopause.

In order to combat this, women can take dairy products, such as unpasteurized and organic milk, yogurt and cheese from grass-fed cows.

Aside from strengthening the bones, milk and other dairy products may also help improve sleep. This is because dairy products are rich in the amino acid glycine, which is known to help promote deeper sleep. This is especially important since menopausal women are prone to getting a lack of sleep, which can worsen other health issues as well as increase their stress levels.

Healthy fats can help reduce the severity of hot flashes and night sweats

Hot flashes and night sweats are some of the more pesky and uncomfortable signs of menopause. It’s a good thing then that reducing their frequency and severity can be achieved by adding more healthy fats to your diet.

Healthy fats, such as omega-3 fatty acids, may benefit women going through menopause as these can assist in the production of neurotransmitters that help maintain an even body temperature.

Some of the omega-3 rich foods you can add to your diet are wild-caught fatty fish, organic flax seeds, chia seeds and hemp seeds.

Taste the rainbow: load up on fruit and veg to reduce menopause-related symptoms

Fruits and vegetables are some of the best food menopausal women can add to their diets. This is because they are packed with vitamins and minerals, fiber and antioxidants — all of which are known to help relieve symptoms related to menopause.

As noted by experts, cruciferous vegetables such as cabbages, kale and broccoli may be especially helpful for postmenopausal women, as they can decrease the levels of a type of estrogen linked to breast cancer.

Dark-colored berries are helpful too, as they are loaded with antioxidants that can help lower elevated blood pressure — a common problem among menopausal women.

Grapes, meanwhile, have been found to be particularly effective when it comes to reducing the severity and frequency of hot flashes in women.

Load up on high-quality protein to combat decreased muscle strength

Menopause can cause your estrogen levels to dip, causing problems not just for your bones but also your muscles. This is because estrogen plays an important part in muscle development.

Because of this, it is recommended that women increase their protein intake once they become menopausal, with the recommended amount being 0.45 to .55 grams per pound of body weight per day.

Doing so, according to experts, can help elderly women experience improvements in their mobility, physical activity and overall quality of life.

Menopause can be such a scary and confusing time, especially since its symptoms are quite uncomfortable. But despite that it’s actually quite easy to help reduce their intensity without resorting to pills: just add more nutritious and fresh foods to your diet.

Sources:

LiveScience.com

JECH.BMJ.com

Maturitas.org

EatingWell.com

CEBP.AACRJournals.org

NCBI.NLM.NIH.org