Can Fiber help Perimenopause Symptoms?

Making sure that we have adequate amounts of dietary fiber in our diets is beneficial to our general health but also can assist in lessening perimenopause symptoms.

You may already know that fiber plays a significant role in lowering risk for developing coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and certain gastrointestinal diseases. Increasing fiber intake also lowers blood pressure and serum cholesterol levels.

Studies also suggest that fiber assists in relieving our bodies of excess estrogen.  This same excess estrogen is thought to be the culprit of several pre-menopause conditions and is believed to increase breast cancer risk.

So, are you getting enough fiber?  Women older than 30 on a 2,000-calorie daily diet should consume at least 25 grams of fiber per day, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) DIETARY GUIDELINES FOR AMERICANS, 2010

Tip: Wash the extra estrogen away with some fiber.  Write down what you eat, are you getting 25 grams?

Great sources of fiber are legumes (peas, soybeans, and other beans) oats, rye, barley, whole grain foods, also in some fruits and vegetables.  Many Americans are simply not eating adequate amounts of dietary fiber. See Appendix 13 in the Dietary Guidelines for the some food sources ranked by dietary fiber content per gram.  Here’s the top 5: 

1. Beans (navy, pinto, black, kidney, white, great northern, lima), cooked

2. Bran ready-to-eat cereal (100%)

3. Split peas, lentils, chickpeas, or cowpeas, cooked

4. Artichoke, cooked

5. Pears

Once again lets try to hit the pantry for some relief before we hit the pill bottle. It works!

Is it hot in here?

Night Sweats… Hot Flashes a strange phenomenon of the female body.  80% of women ages 45 to 54 in the United States experience hot flashes.  What exactly is going on?  While it is not completely understood it’s quite evident that Haywire Hormones is what’s going on.  Early in the “changing of life” some women feel pronounced symptoms of perimenopause during the pre-menstrual part of their cycles – maybe this is when the night sweats start?

I read on one of the popular medical reference websites (WebMD) some ideas to keep hot flashes at bay:  Keep your bedroom cool, use fans during the day, avoid tight clothing….. OH OK!  There was also some reasonable recommendation such as exercising and to avoid triggers Stress, Caffeine, Alcohol,  Cigarette smoke, etc.   They also mention the use of hormone therapies and/or antidepressants to alleviate this menopause symptom, but what can we do nutritionally?

There was a 2007 study published in the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing about the Effect of Dietary Intake on Hot Flashes in Menopausal Women.  This study found that the longer the duration between meals the more likely women were to experience hot flashes and/or the episode was more severe.  These results indicated that glucose levels have a direct effect on hot flashes and possibly hormone levels. 

TIP:  If you are suffering with hot flashes try eating smaller more frequent meals in order to regulate your blood sugar.

Ladies we are not totally alone here, turns out some men retrieving treatment for prostate cancer also experience hot flashes.

Hot flashes are only one in a long list of interrelated symptoms of perimenopause that include: changes in the menstrual cycle, insomnia, mood swings and increased irritability, memory or concentration problems, vaginal dryness, heavy bleeding, fatigue, depression, changes in the thickness and texture of hair, headaches, heart palpitations, sexual disinterest, urinary changes, AND weight gain….. PHEW!  Sounds Wonderful.

Perimenopause…. Huh?

In choosing a topic to blog about in the coming months I pretty quickly decided to write about something that I feel is unrepresented in the Life Cycle: Perimenopause.  Although at one point Oprah attempted to create awareness about this transition in women’s hormonal life, it didn’t really stick. 

I am seeing my own friends in their late 30s and early 40s struggle with symptoms that are associated with perimenopause and not necessarily creating the link.  This can be very frustrating for anyone: to just not feel “right” and not know why.  Like many other adjustments our bodies experience I believe that we can make nutritional choices that will lessen or eliminate some of these symptoms

What is perimenopause anyway?  Webster defines it as the period around the onset of menopause that is often marked by various physical signs (as hot flashes and menstrual irregularity).  AKA: pre-menopause.  Interesting is that the first use of this term is listed as 1962, which may explain why the Word document where I am typing this post in is littered with red underlines.  OK Microsoft: get with the program.  While these pre-menopausal physical signs typically begin around age 45 they can also effect those as young as 25 years of age.  Premenopausal women are still fertile but they are experiencing the onset of some of the symptoms of menopause.  There are many young women that would not even consider perimenopause to explain physical changes that they are experiencing (sadly, their doctors might not either).

When I begin searching for information about perimenopause I am often directed to sites that are actually addressing menopause, which is a bit frustrating.  Are women in their 30s and 40s being overlooked by the medical community?

So, in the coming weeks I am going to start digging in the research, looking at the symptoms of perimenopause and see if we can find some ways to feel better by making different nutritional choices and improving our lifestyles.  We should also be using these signs as a reminder to take better care of ourselves as women to promote healthy aging.