Menopausal Diet - Is Menopausal Diet For You

Besides increased activity (ideally aerobic exercise and resistance training), menopausal diet should be researched and administered. Foods to include in menopausal diet are:

· Vegetables: dark leafy vegetables, such as kale, broccoli, bok choi, spinach, cabbage. Also, peppers, yams, tomatoes-give yourself a great variety of fresh vegetables.

· Limit your intake of potatoes. Choose sweet potatoes instead.

· Fruits: citrus fruits high in potassium, such as oranges, limes, lemons. Other fruits like melon, banana and dried fruits, like figs and apricots.

· Complex carbohydrates - whole grain breads and pastas, brown rice

· Lean protein

· Oily fish - mackerel, sardines, salmon

· Soy food products- tofu, soy milk, soy yogurt, soybeans

· Seaweed

· Legumes, beans and lentils

· More water, less caffeine and alcohol

· Snack on seeds and nuts.

· Cooking oils like canola, flaxseed, extra virgin olive oil, wheat germ

Following a healthier, balance diet plan will not only help to avoid weight gain, it will also go a long way towards easing symptoms of menopause.Menopausal diet should consist of at least 3 meals a day with healthy snacks in between. If you hate counting calories, menopausal diet will please you, as it focuses more on portion size than calories counting.

Some menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes can be controlled better with menopausal diet. Reducing caffeine intake, cola drinks, coffee, refined sugars, alcohol and spicy foods will help a lot to reduce the hot flashes that make life miserable.

Foods rich in phytoestrogens are quite beneficial, as well. The phytoestrogens are plant estrogens that bind to the estrogens receptors in your body. Phytoestrogen can be found in foods like carrots, yams, apples, seaweed, beans, legumes and soy.

Menopausal diet can fight the effects of depression. As hormone levels drop and things begin to change, women are prone to depression. Eating food rich in complex carbohydrates gives a huge boost to the serotonin level, which is the cause of depression. Whole grain pastas, breads and cereals, bagels and brown rice fall into the complex carbohydrate category.