At midlife, when we nourish our bodies with dense nutrition using whole foods, we have the power to reduce and sometimes eradicate uncomfortable symptoms.
We truly are what we eat and when we shift from an inflammatory Standard American Diet, full of processed foods and empty of nutrition, our body stops sending us the messages that it is struggling and starts to do its job.
Menopause is a process of natural hormonal change. It requires us to pull on our big girl panties to start fuelling our bodies right, take rest and prioritize pleasure! This is how we support our bodies to stay symptom free as we shift from fertility to a new chapter with the choice of a different kind of creativity.
I decided to experiment with my food and build a breakfast bowl with ALL of the foods that have the most impact on our beautiful midlife body with their dense hormone balancing nutrition.
Let’s look at what we have got!
Raspberries (fresh or frozen) - Rich in phytoestrogen to top up your depleting juicy hormone and packed with fibre to support your liver health and help your body to detox symptom inducing excess hormones. Anti-oxidant rich and cancer preventative…also juicy and delicious!
Ground Flax - The queen of fibres for midlife women because of its high phytoestrogen content, because it is rich in anti-inflammatory omega 3 fatty acids and because it is just the right balance of soluble and insoluble fibre to help you with your daily detox (read poop!) You need to be pooping daily in perimenopause to excrete excess hormone from the body. You cannot sweat or pee out hormones and circulation of excess hormone in your body is going to drive your uncomfortable symptoms. Constipation is going to increase hot flashes. Let’s keep all our detox pathways open at midlife!
Hemp seeds - packed with omega 3 fatty acids and antioxidants this fibre rich (think daily poop plus) , this plant based protein helps you to boost your protein intake to support your ideal weight and prevent muscle loss at midlife. We need to be taking action and eating to prevent bingo wings and increasing our protein intake in a healthy way is a part of that process.
Pumpkin seeds - Fibre rich (POOP) and packed with minerals such as thyroid supporting zinc and magnesium our relaxation mineral, pumpkin seeds provide us with the micronutrients we need for hormonal change. (More coming on the thyroid gland in a minute)
Walnuts - FIBRE! Full of healthy fats to balance blood sugar levels and curb appetite, walnuts are brain and heart supportive as they are rich in vitamin E. Vitamin E has been shown in clinical trials to reduce hot flashes in menopausal women. Your food IS your medicine at this point and there is a clinical trial backing up the science.
Brazil nuts - Listen, as you move through perimenopause, your thyroid gland is going to need the utmost TLC. Responsible for your metabolism, menstrual cycle, circadian rhythm and bone health, our thyroid gland STRUGGLES when everything starts changing with our hormones. Why do you think so many of us midlife women take thyroid medication? We need to be reducing our stress, finding our voice and eating anti-inflammatory foods at midlife to protect this master gland during the rough seas of perimenopause. The thyroid gland also loves minerals and needs sufficient zinc, iron, magnesium and selenium to effectively convert our thyroid hormone T4 into active T3. It is a process and we need to support our beautiful bodies in that process with nutrition you do not find in processed foods. Brazil nuts are the highest source of selenium, (a mineral depleted from our soils by chelating chemicals such as Round-Up, but don’t get me started!) so we only need 3-4 a day to support our best thyroid health. Let’s eat that at breakfast!
I topped this nutrient dense mix of nuts, berries and seeds with goat milk kefir, a fermented milk product similar to yoghurt, because I am wanting to support my microbiome.
Your microbiome is your unique constellation of gut bacteria that support your gut health , positive mood (these friendly bacteria are busy making your serotonin sister so help them out!) and immunity. During perimenopause, our gut bacteria changes and it has implications for our metabolic and heart health. Eating fermented foods is another nutritional baby step to reducing your perimenopausal symptoms and creating your most vibrant midlife health. Hello kefiir, sauerkraut, kimchee, kombucha and naturally fermented pickles! You can read more in this clinical trial here.
Look at all of this beauty and deliciousness.
I talk often about nutritional switches for midlife women and here is one right here.
Switch your muffin, toast, box cereal and skipped breakfast for this bowl of dense nutrition to feed your body the nutrients it needs for it to pass through hormonal change with minimum symptoms and zero medication and in the process, know that you are building your best vibrant health for MORE active yers in the next chapter.
Ingredients
1 cup fresh or frozen berries
2 tbsp hemp seeds
1 tbsp ground flax
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup walnuts
3-4 Brazil nuts
1/4 cup yoghurt or kefir
Instructions
Pile all of this goodness into a bowl and enjoy! Expect to feel full until lunchtime with no carb cravings because you gave your body the nutrition it needs!