What you eat can both reduce and worsen menopause symptoms. This article discusses keto and menopause in detail, covering the benefits and potential side effects to consider.
Hot flushes, irregular periods, moodiness, aches, and creeping weight gain. Some women have it worse than others, but menopause happens to all of us and is NOT enjoyable. How to soften the symptoms? New evidence suggests the ketogenic diet might be the answer.
You probably know menopause means hormone production has slowed, and the ovaries have stopped producing estrogen and progesterone.
Very few women breeze through this experience. Most of us get pounded with symptoms like night sweats, hot flashes, weight gain, insomnia, mood swings, fatigue, and, worst of all, “brain fog.”
But there’s compelling new evidence that the keto diet may alleviate or even wholly soften the menopause experience. Done correctly, the high-fat, low-carb diet is one of the most reliable ways to restore hormone balance.
Yes – we can have it all. We can stay slim, healthy, and sane after forty. And we can keep enjoying a vivid and sexually fulfilling life with our partners.
The ketogenic diet can deliver a welcome boost for healthy women. The low-carbohydrate diet offers many health benefits, from weight loss and blood sugar control to decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. The keto diet may benefit menopausal women in particular.
Here are 7 reasons why the keto eating plan is perfect for women who are in menopause.
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Menopause kicks our hormones out of balance. Keto can help correct these imbalances quickly and naturally.
For example, the traditional American diet is rich in carbohydrates. It can cause problems with insulin function, including reduced insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance. Insulin issues can cause weight gain, which worsens the symptoms of menopause.
But because keto reduces carb intake, it helps balance hormones like insulin to improve insulin function and, therefore, softens menopause symptoms very quickly.
Furthermore, keto fuels the brain more efficiently than regular diets because it uses ketones, not glucose. This helps combat menopause symptoms like hot flashes, poor concentration, lack of energy, and more.
What to expect: The symptoms will occur less frequently, and when they do occur, they won’t last long, nor will they feel as intense.
Once people enter ketosis, many experience a remarkable increase in energy, mental clarity, and enhanced cognitive function.
That’s because we stop using glucose as fuel when we restrict carbs. Instead, we switch to burning fat, a more potent and stable energy source. It’s a process called ketosis.
How to know if ketosis can help you: If you frequently feel tired or experience a quick surge of energy after a meal, only to skydive and crash a few hours later, then you will likely enjoy more sustained energy if you switch to keto.
Light cardio, eating salads, and counting calories – they all help. But they may not be enough to maintain weight management if you’re in menopause.
Many women report that no matter what they do, they continue to gain weight as soon as they reach their 40s. Over time, it gets worse, and postmenopausal weight gain is a common problem. The pounds keep piling up, often in the worst possible places. It’s not uncommon to accumulate hip, thigh, and belly fat.
Watching the shape of our body change for the worst is frustrating enough.
But add to that hot flashes, uncontrollable mood swings, forgetfulness, tiredness, and a sharp reduction in libido, and it suddenly feels like nature is playing a cruel joke on us.
Thankfully, there’s scientific evidence that the ketogenic diet can induce rapid, healthy weight loss, even for menopausal women.
For example, a breakthrough meta-analysis of keto diet studies (already cited 129 times by other researchers) confirms what people on the keto diet knew1:
“The clinical benefit of a ketogenic diet is in preventing an increase in appetite, despite weight loss. Individuals indeed feel less hungry (or more full or satisfied).”
In other words, the keto diet keeps you full and satisfied and prevents hunger pangs.
A standard ketogenic diet is an excellent and straightforward way to stop weight gain and shed unwanted body weight for good.
But there’s a way to get even quicker and better results. The trick is to follow a personalized ketogenic meal plan tailored to our system – including our age, height, weight, allergies, and eating preferences.
This helps reduce complexity and streamline the process. Menopausal women who try a personalized keto diet plan often lose twice as much weight as those who don’t.
Moreover, they lose weight more consistently and keep it off long-term.
If you’re experiencing issues with your sleep, make sure you dim the lights, avoid blue light before bedtime, and don’t drink caffeine after 3-4 pm.
If poor sleep persists, you should consider the ketogenic diet.
Here’s how keto will impact your sleep. You will find it harder to stay asleep in the first three to five days. That’s natural. Be patient; this is your body’s natural adjustment period.
As soon as you adjust, everything about the quality of your sleep will improve. You’ll find yourself sleeping longer, deeper, and you’ll wake up more relaxed and rested.
Based on the findings of a recent study2 , that may be because keto helps increase REM sleep, the most therapeutic form of sleep.
Many people wonder if a ketogenic diet helps brain function. Can your mind grow quicker if you go keto?
Two main arguments support the keto diet. Firstly, a properly done keto diet is very high in healthy fats. Most of our brain tissue is made up of fatty acids, so a diet rich in them, like keto, naturally helps support our brain.
Secondly, there’s estrogen and its relationship to glucose. This is especially important for women in menopause.
As you may know, one of estrogen’s jobs is to get glucose into our brains for fuel. Menopause throws estrogen out of whack, cutting our brain from its fuel source.
The ketogenic diet eliminates the glucose problem. When we enter ketosis, we use fat as fuel instead of glucose.
It means we can keep providing our brains with a constant, stable stream of energy. This reduces or outright eliminates the worst of menopausal symptoms.
Though scientific research isn’t 100% conclusive, high-fat diets are usually linked to higher sex hormones, such as estrogen. There’s evidence that this can increase sexual desire and combat low libido.
This is vital information for perimenopausal women and those experiencing symptoms of menopause because that’s when estrogen (and libido) starts to plummet.
There is ample anecdotal evidence that ketogenic diets have saved thousands of couples from what’s known as the “silent bedroom.”
By helping support estrogen balance, the keto diet can help us maintain a healthy sexual relationship and avoid unwanted symptoms such as vaginal dryness.
Many menopausal and postmenopausal women experience increased hunger. The keto diet’s most exciting benefit is how it helps decrease hunger pangs and food cravings.
Conventional diets fail because they’re too tough to maintain. Eventually, hunger kicks in, cravings become unbearable, and we start cheating.
The beauty of the keto diet is that the more you adhere to it, the easier it gets and the better it works.
It’s an excellent choice for menopausal women who want to restore their hormone levels and get in shape quickly.
If you’d like to kick cravings, few diets can compare to the keto diet. The only comparable option is the high-protein diet, but that approach has been proven to be unhealthy long-term.
Low-carbohydrate diets like keto can support many women during menopause. Still, there are potential adverse effects to think about.
Here are 2 important considerations to know before starting keto.
Firstly, menopause increases heart disease risk. Hormonal changes can result in changes to cardiovascular health, including high blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
The keto diet has links to higher LDL cholesterol levels. The greater saturated fat intake from keto-friendly foods like red meat, butter, cheese, and fried foods, can all contribute to high LDL cholesterol.
Therefore, the combination of these factors may raise your chances of developing cardiovascular disease in menopause.
On the other hand, the keto diet may lower cardiovascular risk factors by reducing body weight, body mass index, and blood pressure.
Limiting your intake of saturated fat can help keep healthy cholesterol levels. Like the Mediterranean diet, you can prioritize healthy fats like olive oil and fatty fish.
Keto flu occurs during the transition period to ketosis. Menopause causes various side effects, many of which are similar to keto flu symptoms. These include fatigue, headaches, difficulty sleeping, irritability, and mood swings.
Keto flu, on top of menopausal symptoms, might leave you feeling even worse. It’s a good idea to prepare yourself for this unpleasant period.
The good news is that keto flu is temporary. Symptoms usually resolve within a few weeks, and you can minimize them by nourishing your body with plenty of water, electrolytes, and other nutrients.
Keto can have a positive influence on women’s hormones. It can help balance hormone levels, maintain healthy estrogen levels, treat irregular menstrual cycles, and provide relief from symptoms of menopause. Sometimes, however, keto can adversely affect women’s hormones.
Keto is a high-fat diet that can increase the production of estrogen. However, it can also help restore a greater estrogen and progesterone balance. Therefore, it can have positive and negative effects on female individuals, depending on the body’s response.
Following the keto diet can support weight loss in menopause. Moving the body into the metabolic state of ketosis helps you burn stubborn fat. It can reduce food cravings, increase insulin sensitivity, and prevent weight gain—a common complaint of menopausal women.
The keto diet helps women of all ages, but it can be particularly good for women in menopause. Low-carb diets can boost fat loss, improve sleep, enhance cognition, and improve insulin sensitivity. These are perks that every woman can enjoy.
It has the power to alter hormone levels, which is ideal for combating fatigue, hunger, low libido, and other menopause symptoms.
Menopause is a trying time, and you’re probably keen to try anything to alleviate symptoms. But before completely switching to a low-carb diet, consider a chat with your doctor. Keto will not work for every menopausal woman.
2 sources
Do ketogenic diets really suppress appetite? A systematic review and meta-analysis
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/obr.12230
Ketogenic diet improves sleep quality in children with therapy-resistant epilepsy
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1528-1167.2006.00834.x
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