How to Beat Menopause with the Setpoint Diet
According to the US Census Bureau, 63 percent of American women are 48 years old. As perimenopause typically begins in the late 40s, this means that more than half of the female population is experiencing menopausal symptoms and will be in menopause within a few years. If you are one of these women, or if you have already reached menopause, you may be tired of the symptoms that won’t go away no matter what you do. But did you know that the Setpoint Diet can help you beat menopause?
Using the Setpoint Diet to Treat Menopause
The symptoms of menopause are caused by hormone imbalances, triggered by a drop in estrogen and progesterone. By focusing on real whole foods, the setpoint diet helps restore your hormone balance during menopause, which will reduce the symptoms you’re experiencing.
Many people don’t think of the effect different foods have on their bodily functions and metabolisms, but it is profound. For instance, let’s take a typical scenario: your stress level is through the roof, at home and at work. It seems like you lose your temper at everything. But even in your most stressful, angriest state, you know that the things that trigger your rage are not that bad. You know you are overreacting, but you can’t seem to simmer down. The only thing that calms you is to drink several sugary soft drinks a day.
Do you know why?
Cortisol and Diet
The likely hormonal reason for your stress and anger is that you have elevated levels of cortisol in your blood. (This can happen when stress becomes chronic.) A study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism showed that drinking beverages sweetened with table sugar (sucrose) may decrease serum cortisol levels.
If you think that consuming sugary beverages is the best way to reduce cortisol levels, though, think again. High cortisol levels have been proven to cause weight gain, particularly in the belly, putting you at a higher risk of a host of health problems.
With the Setpoint diet, you can balance these hormones and beat many of the symptoms of menopause. What are these symptoms?
Symptoms of Menopause
Menopause strictly means the cessation of the menstrual period. You are not considered to officially be in menopause until you have gone 12 consecutive months without a period. But you will enter perimenopause between two to eight years before menopause, with the average being four years.
Perimenopause causes all those wild hormonal fluctuations and drops in estrogen and progesterone that cause the symptoms below. However, these symptoms may continue after you enter menopause, and for years into your postmenopausal years.
The symptoms of menopause vary, and not every woman experiences every one of them. Here are the most common symptoms of menopause:
- Hot flashes
- Night sweats
- Vaginal dryness
- Trouble sleeping
- Mood swings
- Reduced sex drive
- Irregular periods (during perimenopause)
- Anxiety
- Weight gain
The Setpoint Diet Helps the Most Common Hormonal Imbalances Caused by Menopause
Here are a few hormones that can become unbalanced during menopause, and how the Setpoint Diet can help you rebalance them.
Estrogen
Estrogen is the hormone that experts talk about most when it comes to menopause, the one that primarily causes most of symptoms of menopause. But estrogen is important, but you must consider it in relation to progesterone. Levels of both of these female hormones drop during menopause, but if your levels of progesterone drop faster your levels of estrogen, you will have a condition called “estrogen dominance.”
Research has shown that estrogen dominance may cause much of the weight gain that women experience during menopause. It also increases fat stores in your belly.
How the Setpoint Diet Can Help Balance Estrogen
The Setpoint Diet recommends that you consume at least 10 servings of vegetables per day. Vegetables are loaded with fiber, helping your body excrete excess estrogen from your system. Try to fill half your plate with vegetables at every meal, and be sure to include green leafy vegetables. If you can’t stand to eat veggies, no problem. You can make a variety of tasty green smoothies, using low-fructose fruits and leafy greens. This is the best way to get your 10+ servings of vegetables a day.
Non-starchy SANE vegetables include:
- Celery
- Cucumber
- Kale
- Spinach
- Broccoli
- Bell peppers
Insulin
You probably don’t associate insulin levels with menopause, but there is a connection. According to the Mayo Clinic, estrogen and progesterone help your cells respond to insulin appropriately. During menopause, reduced levels of these two hormones can trigger fluctuations in your blood sugar levels because your cells become resistant to insulin. Fluctuating blood sugar levels contribute to weight gain and can cause type 2 diabetes.
How the Setpoint Diet Can Help Balance Insulin in Menopause
Following the Setpoint Diet is one of the best ways to balance insulin. The Setpoint Diet recommends that you eat these three food groups at every meal.
1. Non-Starchy Vegetables
- Alfalfa Sprouts
- Cabbage
- Eggplant
- Mushrooms
- Tomatoes
- Zucchini
(See above for more examples).
2. Nutrient-Dense Protein, including:
- Lean meats
- Egg whites
- Fatty fish, such as salmon
- Grass-fed beef
- Ham
- Non-fat plain Greek yogurt
3. Whole-food fats, including:
- Coconut
- Cocoa
- Avocado
- Flax Seeds
- Almonds
- Whole eggs
You can also enjoy 0-3 servings of low-fructose fruits a day. (Low-fructose fruits are berries and citrus fruits.)
All of these foods, especially when eaten at the same meal, stabilize blood sugar levels, preventing excess insulin from being released.
Thyroid
The fluctuating hormones of menopause can contribute to high stress levels, causing elevated cortisol levels. This has been shown to hinder proper thyroid function. The result can be weight gain and inability to lose weight. Estrogen dominance and nutritional deficiencies also inhibits thyroid function.
How the Setpoint Diet Can Help Balance the Thyroid Hormone
Research has shown that removing gluten – a protein found in grains, such as wheat and oats – and redressing nutritional deficiencies can improve thyroid function.
Foods that contain gluten are not a part of the Setpoint Diet, and you won’t miss them a bit. Rather, you’ll find it quite easy to replace those foods with ones made from coconut or almond or any of the other non-gluten, non-starchy flours. You can purchase sugar- and gluten-free organic coconut flour in the SANE store.
The Setpoint Diet will also meet every one of your nutritional needs. In no time at all, your hormones will be healed and you will have beat menopause!
