In addition to choosing to eat a balanced diet, menopausal people should choose to eat more to slow down aging, delay disease, and control their weight to maintain good health!

When entering the age of 40-50 years and above, the body will produce less sex hormones, both testosterone levels in men and estrogen hormones in women. This results in various symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, difficulty sleeping, mood swings, forgetfulness, along with the risk of high blood fat, diabetes, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and potbelly. In addition to the problems of menopause, the metabolism system also works less as we age.

Therefore, choosing to eat appropriate foods according to nutritional principles, easy to digest and high in fiber will help reduce menopause symptoms in the initial and long term. It also helps to keep skin healthy, not dry and cracked, and prevents diseases that may be caused by being overweight. There are some types of foods that should be avoided to help slow down aging and prevent diseases and menopause.

Foods to avoid that can trigger menopause

Caffeinated and alcoholic beverages,

as well as regular tea and coffee drinking, can also cause the body to absorb less calcium, increasing the risk of osteoporosis.

High-fat foods,

spicy or hot foods, snacks, sweets, and processed foods, due to the decrease in estrogen and testosterone hormones, cause fat to accumulate in the belly, making it easy to gain weight, increasing the risk of cardiovascular and heart disease, including diabetes.

Saturated fats

that increase blood cholesterol include fatty meats, animal skin, animal organs, processed meats (sausage, fermented pork, Chinese sausage, ham, bacon, etc.), coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, butter, animal fat cream, coconut oil, palm oil.

Foods that contain trans fats,

such as cheese, non-dairy creamer, bakery products, crispy snacks, and foods that use reused frying oil.

High cholesterol such as egg yolks,

no more than 2 eggs per week, animal organs, crab, shrimp, shellfish, squid, fish eggs, crab fat and shrimp.

Very sweet fruits

such as longan, durian, jackfruit, custard apple and sapodilla.

Sugary drinks

such as coffee, iced tea, iced coffee, sweetened fruit juices, soft drinks, yogurt, sweetened milk or soy milk.

Processed foods

such as canned foods that are sweet and salty (see nutrition labels), pickled foods, salted meat, salted fish, pork rolls, sausages, Chinese sausages, dried fruits, preserved fruits, dried fruits.

Foods high in phytate and oxalate can interfere with calcium absorption,

such as Moringa leaves, betel leaves, bamboo shoots, Chinese kale, and spinach. Therefore, these foods should be eaten about 3 hours apart from foods high in calcium.

In addition to the foods you should eat and avoid, dividing your meals into small meals and eating a little at a time will help increase the efficiency of your metabolism, resulting in stable blood sugar and preventing you from feeling tired easily. Sugar should not exceed 6 teaspoons per day. You should not skip any meals, especially breakfast, which is important and keeps you energetic throughout the day. For dinner, you can reduce the amount of carbohydrates by increasing low-fat, easily digestible protein, such as chicken breast or fish. Eat a variety of foods from all 5 food groups and in the right proportions. You can consult a dietitian for more information, along with exercising and getting an annual health check.