Managing Menopause Through Your Diet

By Rachel Graham, Menopause Nutritionist

As women, we are aware, that the transition to menopause can be a bumpy one and many women are quite rightly focused on the more overwhelming symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats, mood swings, anxiety and problems with memory & concentration.

But, during this life stage, we find ourselves at an increased risk for four chronic health conditions, that cannot be ignored.

What are the Big 4?

1. Cardiovascular Disease

2. Type 2 Diabetes

3. Osteoporosis

4. Alzheimer’s & Dementia

I call these the Big 4 – because they are serious, chronic health conditions, that have the potential to shorten our life. 

Having said that, they are all lifestyle-related diseases. This means that we have control over them, based on our diet & lifestyle choices – which is good news… 

However, if we want to successfully control them, we need to prioritise our nutrition & make effective lifestyle changes to reduce our risk. 

With World Menopause Day on October 18th, I want to highlight the benefit of a really good diet. Nothing else will positively impact your long-term health & well-being. It is the number 1 way to avoid & reduce every known risk factor for heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes & dementia.

Choosing foods with superpowers
Some foods contain nutrients with far greater benefits beyond just basic nutrition. Flaxseed is one of those foods, a true superfood to be included in as many ways as possible in our daily diet…

Flaxseed & Lignans – some quick facts:

1. Flaxseed is the richest source of lignans in the plant world.
2. Lignans are a component of the plant cell wall ( they make up approximately 15% of the plant cell wall)
3. Lignans are also known as phytoestrogens because of their powerful anti-cancer capabilities
4. Lignans can bind to oestrogen receptors & interfere with the cancer-promoting effects of oestrogen on breast tissue.

Flaxseed has many other nutritional highlights too i.e. they are a good source of fibre, magnesium, potassium & manganese as well as minerals, iron & copper.

The Phytoestrogen Lignan Benefits Of Flaxseed Include:

• Improving blood lipid profiles by reducing total cholesterol. The following study (Edralin A. 2002)demonstrates the effectiveness of flaxseed on blood lipid profiles.

MenoLigna
Many of my nutritional recommendations for women in this life stage revolve around nourishing your body with key & important foods!
This is why I like to recommend Menoligna to my clients. Menoligna is a new and exciting product developed specifically for women in menopause. It contains sprouted flaxseed with 300mg of beneficial lignans per 30g serving (a dessert spoon)
This makes it an easy add-in to your daily yoghurt, porridge or smoothies to experience all the benefits. 

A 20g portion of Menoligna also contains:

• 30mg of CoQ10 for heart health
• 1.3mg/96% RDA of vitamin B6 to support the reduction of tiredness,
• 354mg/100% RDA of calcium for our bones
• 5.6g of omega 3 (ALA) essential fats for heart health & the maintenance of normal blood cholesterol levels.

International Menopause Day is a day to take stock of your health & have a health audit. Cleaning up your diet is a good place to start. Any small actions you take now i.e. including lignans from flaxseed in your daily smoothie or porridge is a really easy way to support your menopause transition & potentially avoid chronic diseases in later life.
It’s all of these small daily habits that add up in the end so that you see & feel the benefits of your efforts.

Quick Recipe suggestion to get MenoLigna easily in your diet.

Greek Yoghurt Fruit and Nut Bowl

Preparation Time  – 3 minutes

Servings – 1

Ingredients

• 1 cup plain greek yoghurt; or dairy free alternative
• 2 tbsp Linwoods MenoLigna (reserve a little for on top)
• 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
• ½ a cup of fresh berries
• 1 tbsp mixed toasted seeds
• 1 tbsp mixed toasted nuts

Directions

1. Mix together the yoghurt and MenoLigna in a bowl along with honey or maple syrup to taste.
2. Top with berries, nuts and seeds, and a little more MenoLigna.

Written By Rachel Graham, Menopause Nutritionist.

Linwoods are a sponsor of the upcoming Menopause Success Summit, October 2022

References:
(Edralin A. 2002)
“A Review of the Clinical Effects of Phytoestrogens”
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 87, Issue 4, 1 April 2002, Pages 1527–1532