It’s approaching for some women, scary for most, but inevitable for all. Menopause.

A common factor associated with menopause is weight gain – the body ages, and the metabolism subsequently slows down. However, research now shows that women going through menopause may gain weight, but metabolic changes are not necessarily caused by it.

Glycaemic Mayhem

High blood sugar levels from the excessive consumption of refined carbs can cause Glycaemic Stress. Remember those days when you ate one too many cookies, white bread and potato chips? Well, consumption of such foods results in an instant and considerable increase in blood sugar. The excess sugar convert to triglycerides in the liver, causing inflammation throughout your body in the lining of blood vessels.

Insulin Resistance

Consistently excessive levels of blood sugar over time can decrease the bodies ability to process blood sugar properly. Like everything, too much of anything is no good! Excess blood sugar too often causes the insulin receptors to become numb, losing their ability to respond!

What does this mean? Blood sugar is then stored as FAT! The combination of Glycaemic Stress and Insulin Resistance can also cause insomnia and unusual levels of tiredness throughout the day. Eating foods that are high in refined carbohydrates can worsen menopausal symptoms, disrupting the body’s regular hormone function. This is why a lot of women claim to experience “hot flushes” when going through menopause. This certainly makes the extra kilos feel a whole lot worse, yet changes in metabolism are not necessarily correlated onset of menopause…

In fact, you can break the cycle through two simple hacks:

• SLEEP: reduce the symptoms of hot sweats and flushes through dedicating a solid 8-9 hours of deep sleep per night. Sleep will not only help to alleviate the symptoms, but being energised will strengthen your ability to handle them.
• CUT the CARBS: crowd out the white bread, cookies and potato fries, and crowd in the wholefoods. Sustainably caught fish, organic eggs, coconut yoghurt… a diet high in good quality protein and healthy fats will stabilise your blood sugar and insulin levels, keeping those hot flushes at bay!

For more information on hormones and how to rebalance them please look at The Healthy Hormone Book NOW!