How to Eat to Avoid Weight Gain in Menopause

The first spring is when you start becoming fertile and menstruating. The second spring, menopause, is when menstruation stops and you're liberated from your fertility journey. It marks a time when a woman can focus on nourishing herself.

The regenerative power of food is intrinsic to Chinese culture. So, a big part of nourishing yourself during menopause has to do with food.

Eat foods that nourish your energy

Chinese heritage focuses on balancing yin and yang: two halves that form the wholeness of qi (meaning life energy).

It’s believed that kidney yin is what defines a woman’s experience of menopause. If it is very out of balance, she may experience more symptoms. If it is in balance, she may not.

They say that your kidney yin is like a car’s lubrication. If you don’t have enough lubrication, the car runs hot. During menopause, many women feel excess heat in their bodies and have hot flashes or night sweats.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is believed that you’ve got to pacify the excess heat by increasing the number of yin foods you eat and doing activities like meditating or resting to nourish the body.

To follow a more yin diet, you should eat more plant-based foods like juicy fruits (cherries, goji berries, mulberries, pears) and VEGGIES! These foods both hydrate and COOL THE BODY.

What “heats” the body? InFLAMmation. From an energetic perspective, Inflammation may occur from the build-up of the stresses of our experiences in this lifetime.

Yin foods are foods that are underground. They hold the substance that nourishes the energy of a growing life that may become. The ROOT energy: root vegetables, seeds, and eggs are also Yin.

Sprouting foods are YANG energy - they are growing - they ARE BECOMING - this is an energetic process.

We also want to ensure that we clean the liver of excess “toxins” or byproducts of our metabolic processes. The color of Liver is Green. The season of Liver is Spring. In an East Asian Nutrition approach, we always look towards eating more green foods like dandelion leaves, chicory greens, collards, seaweed, sprouts, dark leafy greens

Research shows that green leafy vegetables are anti-inflammatory foods that are also rich in calcium, which is important for women to consume during menopause.

TIP: To help the body absorb non-heme iron (plant based iron) it is important to use abundant acids in the preparation - FRESH lemon (citrus) juice or raw apple cider vinegar is best!

Women going through menopause should also try to avoid eating too many deep-fried dishes or heavy animal products, which are hard to digest. A diet rich in legumes, like soy, will be rich in fiber and provide a lot of health benefits.

If you’re exhausted and stressed, and you’re not eating well, your body will be running on adrenaline. Adjusting your diet to include more fruit and vegetables might help to take the edge off. Research shows that a lactovegetarian diet has a positive effect on adrenocortical activity and adrenal androgens.  That’s something that both Western and Chinese medical systems agree on.

Here are some self-care tips to ease your transition into the Second Spring: 

• Give your body adequate rest. Burning the candle at both ends rapidly consumes blood and fluids.

• Eat nutritious balanced meals at regular intervals, incorporating whole food and removing all processed foods.

• Ensure that your meals are cooked and warm (broths, stews and leafy greens are great!)so that the digestion is well supported. This means less salads, raw and icy foods as they are cold in nature and take more energy to digest. The body will need to work harder to produce more heat to counterbalance the cold leading to less moisture circulating throughout the body.

• Avoid excessive consumption of alcohol, smoking, greasy foods and hot pungent spices such as chillies, peppers and garlic. These can be very stimulating and can dry up the fluids in the body.

• Incorporate gentle to moderate movement every day - walking, swimming and Qi Gong are best.

• Give yourself time to nurture your emotions: Allow all feelings and emotions as they are all expressions of Qi. Greet your emotions and the experience you’re having with compassion.

• Notice your feelings and find outlets to express them. This might be through movement, breath work, meditations, hobbies or community.

• Listen to your body as it is always communicating with you.

• Herbs and acupuncture can help you get there too! I’m here to help.