Stay Heart Healthy in Menopause

Lifestyle Prevention

Taking the necessary steps to managing heart health during and after the menopausal transition is about focusing on what’s in our control.  Lifestyle preventative tips to staying heart healthy:

• Stress Management: Stress and adrenal function is critical to lifestyle prevention because of its role in hormonal management.  The adrenals become a backup system to produce enough hormones beyond menopause.  Manage stress by doing things that make you happy, set boundaries and take time for yourself daily.  Get social and take time to connect with loved ones or join a group, team, or club to further engage with others and do things you enjoy. 
• Exercise: Being active has far reaching effects on a woman’s health including maintaining good heart health. Aim to move 20-30 minutes daily, and do not overdo it.  Create a schedule, try different physical activities like walking, yoga and weight lifting which all support heart health, and don’t forget to have fun.
• Sleep: Sleep hygiene can affect cardiovascular health.  To get better sleep, keep your room cool, minimize nighttime stimulants like exercise, smoking, drinking alcohol or caffeine, and eating too much too late.  Also, modify your sleep schedule by going to bed and waking up at the same time 7 days a week.  
• Diet: nutritional prevention and enjoying a diet rich in whole and fiber rich foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, healthy fats, and lean protein is a natural way to support your heart health.  

Preventative Nutrition

Our relationship with food is essential to reconnecting with our bodies.  Developing a mindful approach to nutritional prevention is an empowering way to support ourselves throughout life, especially in menopause. Being aware of what foods to avoid and what to enjoy, as well as consuming a nutrient dense diet rich in whole foods can easily be integrated daily.  The Mediterranean diet is a good example of this and is known as the cardiac diet because it has been shown to reduce heart disease.  Consider integrating supportive nutrition: 

• The Mediterranean diet is made up of traditional and nutrient dense foods from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea (France, Spain, Greece, and Italy).  It includes; fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and heart-healthy fats, as well as poultry, eggs, cheese, and yogurt in moderation.  
• Foods high in bioflavonoids found in fruit (citrus, apples, peaches, plums, strawberries and blackberries) and vegetables (kale, onions, spinach, and broccoli), etc. 
• High Fiber foods such as fruit (pears, avocado, banana and raspberries), vegetables (dark leafy greens, carrots, beets, artichoke, Brussels sprouts ), beans (lentils and kidney), whole grains (quinoa and oats), nuts (almonds, walnuts and pistachios) and seeds (chia, pumpkin and sesame), etc.
• Omega-3 rich foods: wild caught salmon, cold pressed olive oil, chia seeds and flax seeds.
• Ensure adequate protein from both lean animal and plant protein
• Pure filtered water

Women may be at greater risk for heart disease than men because of the different health issues, concerns and changes they experience across a lifespan.  There are increased risks with age during the transition into menopause and after which is why it’s so important to focus on prevention.  Mindfully implementing lifestyle modifications to stress management, exercise and sleep.  As well as integrating preventative nutrition by bringing awareness to what foods to avoid, and enjoying beneficial foods is an empowering approach to reconnect with the body.  These preventative measures are within our control, can be easily implemented daily and are effective ways to stay heart healthy.