Function
A menopause diet is a nutritious diet designed not
only to minimize all the additional medical health risks
of menopause and general aging, but also to lower both
physical and mental symptoms of menopausal life.
These commonly include hot flashes and skin flushing,
night sweats, insomnia and mood swings and irritability.
Benefits
The benefits of a healthy menopause diet include
some relief of the unpleasant symptoms and the pre-
vention of heart disease and severe osteoporosis. As
for calcium and vitamin D, they have been shown in
numerous studies to specifically prevent osteoporosis
and help slow its progress. Vitamin D stimulate bone
mineralization and the intestinal absorption of cal-
cium and phosphate. Calcium also has numerous
functions and is essential for bone formation and
maintenance. Essential fatty acids are considered espe-
cially beneficial in the diet if the skin becomes dry or in
case of joint pains. They have also been shown to
help in the prevention of vaginal dryness and bladder
infections, as well as increasing overall energy. Work-
ing together, vitamin B 12 and folic acid provide start-
ing materials for the synthesis of serotonin and
dopamine, two neurotransmitters associated with the
body’s ability to regulate mood. By supporting theKEY TERMS
Blood cholesterol—Cholesterol is a molecule from
which hormones, steroids and nerve cells are made.
It is an essential molecule for the human body and
circulates in the blood stream. Between 75 and 80%
of the cholesterol that circulates in a person’s blood-
stream is made in that person’s liver. The remainder
is acquired from animal dietary sources. It is not
found in plants. Normal blood cholesterol level is a
number obtained from blood tests. A normal choles-
terol level is defined as less than 200 mg of choles-
terol per deciliter of blood.
Bone mineral density (BMD)—Test used to measure
bone density and usually expressed as the amount of
mineralized tissue in the area scanned (g/cm2). It is
used for the diagnosis of osteoporosis.
Calorie—A unit of food energy. In nutrition terms,
the word calorie is used instead of the scientific term
kilocalorie that represents the amount of energy
required to raise the temperature of one liter of
water by one degree centigrade at sea level. In nutri-
tion, a calorie of food energy refers to a kilocalorie
and is therefore equal to 1000 true calories of energy.
Estrogen—A hormone produced by the ovaries and
testes. It stimulates the development of secondary
sexual characteristics and induces menstruation in
women.
Fat-soluble vitamins—Vitamins, such as A, D, E and
K that are found in fat or oil-containing foods, and
which are stored in the liver, so that daily intake is
not really essential.
Fatty acid—A chemical unit that occurs naturally,
either singly or combined, and consists of strongly
linked carbon and hydrogen atoms in a chain-likestructure. The end of the chain contains a reactive
acid group made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)—Use of the
female hormones estrogen and progestin (a synthetic
form of progesterone) to replace those the body no
longer produces after menopause.
Phytoestrogens—Compounds that occur naturally
in plants and under certain circumstances can have
actions like human estrogen. When eaten they bind
to estrogen receptors and may act in a similar way to
oestrogen.
Progesterone—A female steroid hormone secreted
by the ovary; it is produced by the placenta in large
quantities during pregnancy.
Water-soluble vitamins—Vitamins that are soluble
in water and which include the B-complex group
and vitamin C. Whatever water-soluble vitamins
are not used by the body are eliminated in urine,
which means that a continuous supply is needed in
food.
Women’s Health Initiative (WHI)—Major 15-year
research program sponsored by the National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) to address the most com-
mon causes of death, disability and poor quality of
life in postmenopausal women, namely cardiovas-
cular disease, cancer, and osteoporosis. The WHI
was launched in 1991 and consisted of a set of
clinical trials and an observational study, which
together involved 161,808 generally healthy post-
menopausal women. The study results were pub-
lished in the February 16, 2007 issue ofThe New
England Journal of Medicine.Menopause diet