As our bodies go through this major change, we start producing less and less of the hormones that have been regulating our bodies for the last forty or fifty years. It’s surprising how many “normal” activities suddenly trigger unpleasant menopause symptoms when we don’t expect it.
Natural menopause treatments can always help but it’s smart to avoid worsening symptoms if it can be avoided.
Two of the biggest contributing triggers to unwelcome menopause symptoms are holding onto excess weight and consuming alcohol regularly. That might sound a bit depressing, but isn’t it worth finding out which of your usual habits could be making this transition more difficult and what you can do about them?
Carrying around excess weight exacerbates many menopause symptoms like hot flashes, mood swings, lowered libido, and more. Losing excess weight is healthy for many reasons, and easing one’s way through menopause offers another motivation for tackling weight loss if it’s needed.
Not to mention that eating unhealthy foods such as processed foods, fast food and even fatty meats all have other negative effects on menopausal women. Eating fatty meats can actually lower serotonin levels in your body which can result in a poor quality of sleep and feeling grumpy and irritable. Plus, being bloated or retaining water will likely feel worse now than ever before.
Another factor that affects hormone production is alcohol consumption. Are you having two or more drinks a day on average? Even one drink can affect your body’s temperature and functions and make menopausal symptoms worse. If you drink two or more alcoholic beverages a day, the effects are likely to be even more severe. The hormone levels affected by alcohol can lead to hot flashes, night sweats, headaches and even more serious health risks.
How You Might Be Making Your Hot Flashes Worse
Hot flashes and night sweats are an aggravating daily occurrence for some 75% of menopausal women, probably including you. There are a surprising number of things you might be doing in your daily life to bring on hot flashes more frequently or make them more intense. At the same time, looking into natural menopause treatments can help bring your body into a better balance and reduce the likelihood of hot flashes even more.
Basically, anything that raises your body’s core temperature can make hot flashes or night sweats more numerous or more intense. Here’s some examples.
Overexercising: While daily exercise can help keep many menopausal symptoms at bay, for many women going through perimenopause or menopause, a light workout from a low-impact routine like swimming or walking is more than enough. Heavy exercise can raise your core temperature, bringing on more hot flashes.
Hot baths: As relaxing as they can be, hot showers or baths can be particularly troublesome right before bed.
Drinking alcohol: The recommendation is to keep your daily intake at one drink or less, as women who drink alcohol (and especially in larger than moderate amounts) are more likely to suffer from hot flashes than those who limit themselves to one drink per day – or none.
Eating spicy foods: It’s no surprise that hot food can bring on hot flashes. Many people – men and women alike – experience a temporary rise in body temperature after eating a spicy meal. But it can actually trigger hot flashes and night sweats in menopausal women.
Heat: The sultry climes of tropical locales can seem so inviting, but that extra heat is something your body just doesn’t need during menopause. A warm or stifling room can have the same effect, so keep that temperature low and the fan on for maximum comfort and stave off some of those horrible menopause symptoms.
Tight clothing: Another factor that many women struggling with menopause symptoms might not have considered is how their clothing choices affect their body temperature. Wearing tight, constricting clothing can keep your body warmer and lead to more frequent or more intense hot flashes. Stick to light layers for maximum comfort and to avoid triggering hot flashes.
Drinking hot beverages: Sipping hot tea like an oolong, jasmine or even green tea might sound great to help you relax and try to get a peaceful night’s sleep but it could be helping bring about more severe menopause symptoms. All these types of tea have caffeine. Try switching to a caffeine-free cold beverage and see if you notice better sleep.
There are other things you might be doing to worsen your hot flashes and night sweats. You should also avoid factors such as cigarette smoke from your own cigarettes or secondhand smoke or excessive stress.
How to Avoid Triggering Menopause Symptoms
To summarize, there are a lot of healthy habits you can incorporate into your lifestyle to help you get through menopause with as little disruption as possible.
- Eat well-balanced meals and avoid foods that are fatty, processed or even spicy.
- Switch to caffeine-free, cold beverages like flavored water, chilled herbal teas or pure water to keep your body temperature down and side effects at a minimum.
- Keep comfortable by keeping the temperatures as low as you need to and wear loose-fitting, light layers of clothing.
- Keep alcohol consumption to a minimum. Consume no more than one drink a day or skip it entirely.
- Keep life as stress-free as possible. If it’s possible to work some extra relaxation into your schedule or reduce your workload slightly, it might pay off in a smoother transition at this time of your life.
- Incorporate light to moderate daily exercise into your schedule, but don’t overdo it.
- If you’re up for it, look into getting onto a wellness program that helps you shed the few extra pounds you’ve been wanting to get rid of. The benefits could be more valuable now than ever!
Look into natural menopause treatments that have worked for your friends or family. One product that’s helped hundreds of thousands of women combat the dreaded effects of menopause is the LadyCare therapeutic device. You can learn about it here.
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