EAT TO BEAT THE MENOPAUSE

AMIDLIFE woman is a busy woman. As part of the sandwich-generation, we often find ourselves juggling extra responsibility at work while running around after children not quite ready to fly the nest, as well as caring for ageing parents. We need to be firing on all cylinders. This is why eating the right foods – ones that will help

beat the menopausal symptoms that threaten to slow you down – is so important.

Today, in the second extract from my book The Happy Menopause, I explain why this is a

time in a woman’s life when nutrition really can help you thrive.

Of course, when there’s so much else going on, worrying about your looks tends to slip down your list of priorities. But if your hair is lank, your nails keep splitting and your skin looks dull and dry, these are all signs that you need to ring-fence some time for yourself. I’m a firm believer that menopause can be a positive experience; an opportunity to give your body a midlife makeover.

Getting your nutrition right – recognising what your body is lacking and making sure it gets what it needs to thrive, such as plenty of orangecoloured foods – can ultimately result in you coming out of this phase looking and feeling better than ever.

Making your diet as nutritiously beneficial as possible will give an energy boost that will help you cope so much better with life’s stresses.

Our bodies are brilliant machines, programmed to keep us alive. But if that machine starts suffering from key nutritional deficiencies, it will prioritise vital organs rather than waste precious energy on giving us glossy Kate Middleton hair, strong nails and healthy skin.

The good news is that it doesn’t take huge amounts of time and effort to eat yourself back to being your beautiful self. You simply need to recognise that your nutritional needs are a priority.

After all, you have decades of life ahead and you want to enjoy them. Whatever you invest in your health now will pay dividends when it comes to looking and feeling good long into the future.

USE QUINOA INSTEAD OF BROWN RICE – IT’S PACKED WITH PROTEIN

YOUR HAIR NEEDS PROTEIN

AS HAIR is a really important and defining part of our appearance, it can be distressing if you seem to be shedding more hair and that it’s thinner or drier than it used to be.

It’s perfectly normal to shed hair – we lose 50 to 100 hairs a day without really noticing. But as the menopause approaches, this can increase and become more of a concern.

For most women, it’s a phase that will pass once our body adjusts to the menopause, but it’s no fun while it’s happening.

Nutrients needed: Eating plenty of protein is very important for strong, healthy hair, because it provides the building blocks for the body to produce keratin, the toughprotein that also makes nails and forms our skin.

Foods rich in protein are also typically high in iron, which is also important for our hair. So try to include plenty of meat, fish and eggs or pulses, nuts and seeds in your diet.

A protein-rich diet also helps keep your blood sugar stable, which is vital to maintain hormone balance and allow the adrenal glands to produce the small amounts of oestrogen we need post-menopause.

Eating plenty of fruit and vegetables ensures optimum levels of these key vitamins and other antioxidants that are likely to protect the follicles and encourage growth.

Zinc – found in shellfish, other seafood, meat, dairy products, legumes (beans, peas, lentils), nuts and seeds – supports immune function and underpins cell formation and growth, so this can also help to keep your hair thick and strong.

Essential fatty acids help to improve the texture and condition of your hair and they can make a big difference for anyone struggling with dry or brittle tresses.

If stress is a factor in your hair loss,