Diet in menopause

Menopause literally means cessation of menstruation. This end has a physiological correlation with the decline in oestrogen secretion due to loss of follicular function. The ovaries stop producing eggs and produce less oestrogen and progesterone.  

According to gynaecological expert Christiane Northrup, the menopause is the passage into the wisdom years and, despite what a society focused on profitability and overproduction may think, the menopause can be a time of calm, fulfilment and encounter.

From abiological point of view we are programmed to withdraw from the outside world for a period of time at this stage of life, I call them 'conscious pauses', and I don't mean by this that it is necessarily an external withdrawal. We don't need to go to the Far East in search of a temple or a Tibetan master, these pauses without external rhythm have more to do with internalisation, meditation, silence. If living habits are chaotic in terms of nutrition, exercise, breathing and emotions, they can become dense obstacles.

If your nutrition includes or is based on foods that generate a lot of heat, and that, in addition, come from the animal kingdom, the passage to the age of wisdom becomes the age of irritability, competitiveness, fear... giving way to a constant alternating ups and downs: heat and sweat, hypo and hyperglycaemia, hypo and hyperthyroidism, hyper and hypertension.

In menopause and pre-menopause we should nourish ourselves considering more the emotional energetic values: avoiding meat, poultry and baked foods and, in general, everything that is very dry and dehydrated, avoiding the very yang and the extreme yin: simple sugars, sprouted food, with added hormones...

The proportions with respect to the fertility stage in nutrition change. We should eat more vegetables than cereals, more legumes than animal protein and more seeds than seaweed. It is also important to reduce salt.

From my personal and clinical experience, a personalised and intelligent vegan diet, together with the practice of conscious organic movement (yoga, tai chi, chi kung), meditation, understanding and reconciliation with the past, compassion and gratitude make you live this period of life as a rebirth. 

Myths and misconceptions about the menopause: 

1. The menopause is not the beginning of the end.
2. The ageing process is not accelerated after menopause, the ageing process is accelerated by a meaty, salty and dry nutrition.
3. If you eat properly, you don't gain weight. You gain weight when you try to camouflage your emotions by eating.
4. The body adapts naturally to hormonal changes, do not ingest animal hormones (meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, farmed fish).
5. There is a natural, non-hazardous loss of calcium due to a drop in oestrogen levels (natural osteopenia).
6. You don't lose sexual desire, you mature sexually and you know what you want.

What can I do to mitigate the symptoms:

1. Sesame seeds, tofu, hijiki seaweed, green cabbage... are natural, bioavailable sources of calcium. Moderate outdoor exercise exposing the body to the sun, together with conscious breathing helps us to metabolise calcium.
2. Boiled soya vegetable drink with kombu seaweed helps to combat hot flushes.
3. Agar agar agar seaweed also contributes to refreshing the body and facilitates intestinal transit by combating constipation.
4. Sesame oil used topically nourishes and beautifies the skin of the body.
5. Couscous, bulgur and polenta cooked together with vegetables are relaxing.
6. We should increase our intake of vitamin C. Yam is a collagen precursor ingredient.
7. Eating tofu decreases the thermal sensation of heat.

It's time to rediscover your hobby and enjoy it, to connect with your true dream and realise it. Getting together with women is nourishing and healing.

It is our responsibility to know the dimension of the age of wisdom and to live it to the full.

Recipe for menopausal symptoms. 

Yam pizza with tofu

Yam is known for its high supply of phytoestrogens, a collagen enhancer. It regulates heat and humidity in the body.

Ingredients:

1 kilo of peeled yam

6 onions

Olive oil

250 grams of tofu 

100 grams of pumpkin

1 leek

black pepper

A little oregano 

Unrefined sea salt

Elaboration:

For the base

1. Cut the onions into crescent shapes and sauté them in a little oil until transparent. 
2. Cut the yam into slices. 
3. Cook the yam and onions in water for 30 minutes.
4. Mash the mixture with a drizzle of oil and spread on a baking tray. 

For the cover

1. Cut a leek into crescent shapes.
2. Cut the pumpkin and tofu into small cubes.
3. Sauté the leek and pumpkin with a pinch of salt until tender.
4. Stir in the tofu and add a few drops of tamari.
5. Continue sautéing for a few more minutes. Add to the pizza, sprinkle with oregano and pepper and bake for 5 minutes at 180°C.

Article written by Patricia Restrepo, Macrobiotic Consultant and director of IME, Instituto de Macrobiótica de España.