Is there a magical menopause diet?
Niki Bezzant's Menopause newsletter
I get lots of questions when I’m speaking about menopause (which I do for corporate and community groups - more here) about what and how to eat in perimenopause. That’s likely because if you’ve ever looked at any content on this topic, your various algorithms will now be serving you tons and tons of messages selling you stuff like diets and supplements and exercise plans and programs and on and on and on. On any given day you might be told to: go keto; do fasting; cut out carbs; eat carbs; cut sugar; boost protein; eat fat; don’t eat fat; do intense exercise; do gentle exercise… it’s no wonder women are confused! So today’s newsletter is a little bit on diet. And there’s a wee bit of a laugh at the end.
Don’t get your menopause advice from Gwyneth…
… or anyone associated with Gwyneth. That’s the conclusion I’ve drawn from a recent peruse of an article on the goop website about perimenopause, by a goop regular, Dr Sara Gottfried. That ‘doctor’ title got me, I must say. She is, in fact, a trained medical doctor (not everyone who has that title is, in fact - amazing how many Doctors of Philosophy are out there giving health advice!) But she seems to have fallen down a rabbit hole of slightly ‘woo’ misinformation, much like Gwyneth, in fact.
This doc is promoting a ‘A Protocol for Balancing Hormones and Metabolism’ involving ‘detoxification, nutritional ketosis, and intermittent fasting’. In other words: a diet.
I’ve seen a LOT of this kind of shit over the years, and I’ve noticed how the language has changed in these kinds of people’s messaging, no matter if it’s about weight loss or menopause. They used to say “It’s not a diet. It’s a lifestyle!” Now they don’t mention the ‘d’ word; they call it a ‘protocol’.
But I’m going to take a guess that this protocol involves all the same stuff restrictive diets do: tons of rules; banned and ‘allowed’ foods; special, magical supplements and a ‘science-y’ sounding theory.
Here’s what (I think) you should know before taking notice of any of these kinds of diets being promoted for menopause:
-There’s no magic diet. For anything. Let alone for ‘balancing hormones’. And just btw - balancing the hormones is a meaningless term for a perimenopausal woman. What we are experiencing is not a hormone imbalance. It’s a natural and expected transition, during which our hormone levels change in both directions.
-There’s very little evidence around any diet being effective for menopausal symptoms. When it comes to weight loss and body composition, most types of diet will have an impact if you are overweight or have obesity. The trick is keeping it going - go off the diet and you’re likely to lose the effects. (There’s lots more detail on this in my book).
- For improved bone density, lower blood pressure and reduced risk of heart disease (an important issue for women) a Mediterranean-style pattern of eating has been shown to be beneficial. This diet also can have important anti-inflammatory effects - also pretty useful at perimenopause.
- For maintaining and building muscle mass, there’s emerging evidence that we should keep protein intakes up; from 1.3-1.6g of protein per kilo of body weight seems to be a useful amount, with some experts advocating more, especially if we’re doing strength training.
- There’s next to no evidence that a keto diet is useful for menopause, and speculation that it might be harmful, by increasing stress hormones. Ditto for extreme fasting diets or any other very restrictive diet.
- There’s no downside (and plenty of potential upside) in eating tons of plants; some healthy fats; minimal processed foods and cutting out or way down on alcohol. For sure.
Actually funny menopause satire
Most menopause ‘humour’ I find pretty unfunny. There are a couple of comedy songs, for example, that I know other people find funny, but just make me cringe. This piece, though, which my friend Jennifer Collinson sent me, I find genuinely funny. It’s by Kathryn Baecht. See what you think.
A taste:
Q: How long does perimenopause usually last?
This is hard to answer because historically it has been extremely difficult for doctors to pay attention to a perimenopausal woman for very long. In fact, researchers have not yet discovered what the evolutionary purpose of a perimenopausal woman might be, but some suggest that perhaps her purpose is to perform a large portion of the world’s unpaid labor.
And something from me
I fear I’ll suffer by comparison, but I wrote this piece about my last period for The Spinoff’s ‘Bleed Week’.
I’ll leave you with that my lovelies. Don’t forget you can subscribe to my paid newsletter for bonus content, access to Q&As, and more.