5 Reasons To Work With A Dietitian During Perimenopause

Perimenopause is the time leading up to menopause when hormonal fluctuations begin. It can last anywhere from 5 to 14 years and ends with menopause. Menopause is the 12 month anniversary of when you stop getting your period. You may have heard of many of the hallmark symptoms of the menopause transition, like hot flashes, mood swings (hello meno-rage), and brain fog. Fatigue, digestive issues, and weight changes are other common experiences. These are all great reasons to work with a dietitian during perimenopause.

While all these “symptoms” don’t sound that great, you don’t have to put up with feeling like crap every day. Discussing the changes that occur during perimenopause is becoming less taboo than it once was. There are resources available to help you take charge of your health.

Stress management, good sleep hygiene, and regular movement are an important aspect of supporting your physical and metal health during perimenopause. With any life stage, good nutrition is one of the pillars of good health. Learning to listen to your body and nourish it well will help you thrive during perimenopause.

Here’s 5 reasons to work with a dietitian during perimenopause

Tired of feeling tired? Let’s eat to get those energy levels up

Fatigue during perimenopause is no joke. Lack of sleep good quality sleep is often a big contribution to this. Fatigue often leads to overcompensating with caffeine (not helpful for sleep) and seemingly endless sugar cravings (which makes sense – your body is just looking for energy). When I work with clients, I talk a lot about sleep hygiene and how it can impact our appetite, energy levels, and metabolism.

Having a plan for those rough mornings when sleep just didn’t happen can be so helpful. Turning to complex carbohydrates (think whole grains, vegetables and fruit) balanced with protein or fats helps keep energy levels more stable, especially on mornings when sleep was illusive.

It could be more than just lack of sleep that’s contributing to your energy slumps. We look at overall eating pattern and meal balance and snacks as well as check for possible nutrient deficiencies that could also be contributing.

If it’s hot flashes keeping you up, there could be a nutritional component to that as well.

Take control of your symptoms – foods that may trigger your hot flashes

Generally, I want to see you have the least restrictive diet possible to meet your nutrition needs and enjoy life. It’s more common that I’ll be working with you to add foods back in to your diets, rather than cut them out.

Having said that, sometimes, it’s beneficial to limit or temporarily remove certain foods from your diet to see if it helps alleviate symptoms.

Some foods that can trigger hot flashes include caffeine, alcohol, chocolate, and spicy foods.  (I know, all the good ones right?) Rather than just taking everything out, try cutting back first. Iced coffee instead of hot coffee works for some. For others, it’s choosing which food has the most value that day. Maybe you can enjoy a spicy lunch, but that glass of wine with dinner is going to mess up your sleep and tomorrow you have an important meeting, so you save the wine for another night.

What about foods that help? You may have heard that eating soy can help with hot flashes. The evidence for this is not strong, although it might be possible for some. Having said that, there are a ton of health benefits to eating soy, so might be worth a try.

Quit the yo-yo dieting and find a way of eating that works for you

If you’ve been a chronic dieter your whole life, it might be worth asking yourself whether it’s truly serving you and your health. I mean, how much time, energy, and money have you spent chasing the latest fad diet? Are you really healthier for it?

Midlife is a great time to switch gears and focus on your overall health and fix your relationship with food. It’s not always an easy journey, but it’s worth it to experience the freedom that can come from giving up dieting.

It’s estimated that most women will spend 40% of their lives post menopausal. Don’t you deserve to spend it doing things you love rather than dieting?

Invest in your health

There are many eating patterns that can help reduce risk of heart disease and osteoporosis, while improving cognition and metabolic health. Perimenopause brings with it an increased risk for all of the above. A great reason to work with a dietitian during perimenopause is to help you get the most out of your eating pattern when it comes to disease prevention, while also enjoying the foods you eat.

And if you’re already managing a chronic health condition? Even more reason to work with a dietitian to optimize your health.

Fix your tummy troubles

Bloating, constipation, and reflux are all common experiences during perimenopause and another great reason to work with a dietitian. While the physiology of perimenopause and gut dysfunction is not fully understood, we do know that perimenopausal and postmenopausal women experience these gut changes more than their younger counterparts. Part of it can be attributed to age (we generally see more constipation with aging for a variety of reasons), but not all.

Stress has a large impact on overall gut function. Adopting a mindful eating practice can help.

Bloating can also be an uncomfortable side effect of hormone therapy, so having a plan to manage it can be really important to helping you achieve optimal relief.

Nutrition is important, but it’s not everything

If you’re nourishing your body as best you can, practicing good sleep hygiene, managing your stress and moving well, but still having trouble, it’s worth talking to your doctor about hormone therapy. The potential risks and benefits of taking hormone therapy vary by individual.

Want to learn more?

If you are interested in working with a dietitian to support you during perimenopause, book a free 15-minute discovery call here. I work with clients in British Columbia and a few other provinces across Canada.