Foods That Help Menopause: Omega-3 Fatty Essential Fatty Acids

Menopause brings many challenges -- everyone has heard about symptoms like hot flashes, depression, fatigue, and forgetfulness. What many women experiencing menopause for the first time don’t realize that their body has different dietary requirements and that making a few simple changes to their diet will help relieve some of the worst symptoms of menopause.

In fact, as a woman advances in age her dietary requirements change and eating certain foods will greatly help the health of her changing body. Obviously this doesn’t mean a woman has to give up her favorite foods it just means they need to add the required foods to their diet.

For example, women experiencing menopause can consume foods containing potassium to help their health. Foods which are high in potassium help the woman’s body regulate water retention and get rid of that bloated feeling. Foods such as potatoes and bananas are excellent sources of potassium.

Vegetables also help menopausal women. Increasing vegetable intake of dark green, leafy vegetables, such as kale, broccoli, collard greens, and spinach, are especially beneficial. Lentils, whole grains, soy beans and brown rice are also excellent foods for menopausal women.

Another important group of foods for menopausal women is foods which contain the essential fatty acid omega-3. Foods high in omega-3 such as sardines, salmon, herring, tuna and trout are all excellent for menopausal women (they are also good for healing dry skin which many women experiencing menopause suffer from).

Other foods that are good for menopause are tofu, yogurt, nuts and seeds. Sunflower seeds, almonds, pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts, and walnuts are all excellent choices. Healthy oils such as flaxseed, canola, and olive are all on the list of foods that help menopause. Some doctors also recommend seaweed, taken in pill form, for its high volume of vitamins and minerals. Eating these healthy foods also helps other aspects of the body such as blood pressure and weight control.

When women reach the age of menopause they are frequently experiencing other health problems so paying attention to diet and eating whole, natural foods is a good idea. One food which seems to increase bone density (fights osteoporosis) and lowers depression, hot flashes, and irritability is soy.

Of course, none of this means that a woman cannot stop eating her favorite foods -- it simply means that foods that help menopause should be added to a woman’s favorite foods to create a healthy, well-balanced diet.

Eating the right foods that help menopause will help in this regard as well. If a woman exercises and drinks plenty of water in addition to eating a healthy diet she will be able to sail through menopause without too much suffering.