Beat The Heat: 10 Steps To Managing Your Menopause

Menopause is a normal, natural process that usually occurs between 45 and 55 years of age when a woman’s periods stop and her oestrogen levels fall. While some sail through it almost problem-free, for others it can bring hot flushes, night sweats, insomnia, bloating and weight gain. Though you may not be able to banish them completely, with a little know-how it is possible to manage symptoms with simple lifestyle changes.

- Wendy Green

TRACK YOUR TRIGGERS

Anything that raises the body temperature can bring on a hot flush. Common triggers are being in an overly warm room or having a hot meal or drink. Caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods and stress are other common culprits. Keeping track of when and where your hot flushes happen, what you ate or drank and how you felt just before should help you identify your triggers so you can try to avoid or reduce them.

You’ll probably notice a pattern – for example, do your flushes mostly happen in the morning or at night? Do they come on when you’re anxious, upset or over-tired? Do you overheat after a hot drink or a curry? Or do they happen when you’re in a warm room, or during or after exercise?

EAT TO BEAT THE HEAT

Women who eat a Mediterranean-style diet rich in fruit, vegetables and whole grains seem to have fewer hot flushes – possibly because the plant oestrogens it contains has a hormone-balancing effect.

Products like tofu, soya milk and soya-based yogurts, cheeses and desserts are also rich in plant oestrogens so can help keep things in balance as our own levels reduce.

Dishes like curry and chilli con carne can worsen hot flushes as natural chemicals in spices such as turmeric and chilli can widen blood vessels and boost blood flow. If you can’t bear to give up heat in your food, choose milder options like korma, passanda or dopiaza, eat them with raita and drink plenty of cold water.

TREAT YOURSELF