5 Best Ways to Fight Menopause and Inflammation
Menopause and inflammation go together like bees and honey, you can’t have one without the other. You aren’t just bloated, everything inside you is inflamed and the discomfort is sometimes unbearable.
What is Menopause and Inflammation?
Inflammation during menopause is your body’s reaction to all the changes, the decline in estrogen, your slower metabolism, the lowering of nutrients your body is absorbing, and if you are like me, the more I try to combat menopause with exercise, the sorer my joints and muscles become.
Here are the ins and outs of menopause and the constant inflammation you encounter as well as thoughts on how to tackle inflammation for a more comfortable and peaceful menopause experience.
Changing Your Diet-Boost Your Metabolism
We all know what a balanced diet looks like and up until now, we knew how a balanced diet made us feel. The rules of the game have changed and you have to develop new diet habits in order to keep inflammation at bay.
Weight gain always seems to be the focus as we hit menopause, our midsection swells up and nothing fits correctly. Instead of focusing on weight gain, I think we should focus on inflammation in addition to boosting our metabolism. I boosted my metabolism by using Macrostax, it is a wonderful app that takes into consideration your age, height, weight and balances your macros(protein, fat and carbs) to grow an efficient metabolism over 50. Highly recommended.
It’s easy to add something like Macrostax but it is hard to eliminate the foods that add to inflammation during menopause. It is important to cut down on salt, bad fats, and alcohol. If you continue to consume these three as if you are still in your twenties, the inflammation won’t go away.
Vitamins and Supplements
Not only has menopause led to reduced estrogen, but it has also reduced our ability to absorb important nutrients that our bodies need, especially when it comes to inflammation. It is important to add vitamins for menopause as well as menopause supplements to your diet to fend off the menopause symptoms that are a result of inflammation such as hot flashes, night sweats, brain fog, digestion issues and sore joints. Probiotics are also a wonderful solution to battling inflammation in our digestive systems.
Stretching
It only takes 6 minutes a day of stretching to relieve the pressure caused by inflammation in our joints and muscles and are simple effective ways to start the day with peace.
My morning stretches look something like this: child’s pose, transitioning between downward dog and a plank, alternating runner’s lunge on each side to a runner’s lunge twist on each side, on to my bum for a butterfly stretch(I have tight hip flexors). I’d like to say that there is a certain amount of time for each but it is different every day because I feel different every day. Listen to your body and adjust accordingly.
Meditation
I am a terrible meditator but have found that stretching at the start of my day and meditating at the end of my day(one minute, I am just too energetic to meditate any longer), leads to a more sound sleep.
I use a meditation app called Balance Meditation. Recent studies show that meditating just one minute a day, helps combat inflammation. Full disclosure, I spend most of the minute praying I don’t have night sweats. Meditating releases some of the day’s stresses that have led to inflammation caused by menopause.
My Favorite Morning Inflammation Fighter
Every two weeks I purchase fresh ginger and turmeric. I am one lucky woman, my husband raises bees and is quite the citrus grower so we always have fresh honey and either lemons, blood-red oranges, oranges, or grapefruits. This is as DIY as it gets for me but I feel less bloated, jumpstarted and fresh every morning.
Note: Please excuse the non-perfectness of this recipe, please sweeten with honey to your liking.
- Juice equal parts ginger and turmeric.
- Pour ginger/turmeric juice in a pitcher(note, this pitcher will be permanently stained)
- For every 2 cups of ginger/turmeric juice, squeeze by hand one of your favorite citrus(lemon is probably best, I like to switch it up)
- For every 2 cups of ginger/turmeric juice add 2 tablespoons of honey(preferably organic)
- Stir
- Pour into ice cube trays and freeze.
- Every morning, place 2 inflammation cubes into your favorite mug and fill mug with very hot water(the ice cubes will chill it to the right temperature)
- Wait for the cubes to melt and ENJOY!
Conclusion
Menopause and inflammation is a constant and with a little self-love like changing your diet, stretching, meditating and supplementing with vitamins and supplements, it is possible to feel and look your best. It is a couple of small changes in habit that can lead to a tremendous amount of relief.
If inflammation is left untreated, basic brain fog and sore joints begin to look like heart issues and high cholesterol. It is never too soon or too late to start. Remember, be kind and be patient with yourself, you deserve it.
