Health Coach Luke Coutinho Suggests Some Ways By Which You Can Sail Through Menopause

Menopause is the process through which a woman ceases to be fertile or menstruate. It is a normal part of life and is not considered as a disease or a condition. The symptoms of menopause may occur years before a woman's final period. Some women may even experience the symptoms for months or years afterward. Luke Coutinho in his recent live Facebook video addresses the issue of menopause. Health coach addresses menopause as a completely natural biological process. It is not an illness, it is just a stage where a woman undergoes certain hormonal changes. And although it concludes the time in a woman's life for fertility, you can still stay healthy and sexual throughout your fifties and well beyond. He further suggests maintaining a healthy lifestyle including a nutritious and a well-balanced diet, along with vitamin D and calcium, weight management, and elimination of cigarettes and alcohol can help alleviate or reduce the menopausal symptoms.

Menopause is the process through which a woman ceases to be fertile or menstruate.
Photo Credit: iStock

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Some common symptoms of menopause include:

• Weight gain; especially in the belly area
•  Low sex derive
•  Vaginal dryness
•  Fatigue
•  Inadequate sleep
•  Hot flashes

Here are some things to keep in mind if you are dealing with menopause:

1. Chickpeas:  Phytoestrogens may be beneficial for women during the menopause by producing oestrogen-like effects in the body. They also stimulate the liver to produce sex-hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) which controls the circulating levels of oestrogen and testosterone in the blood, and therefore regulates hormone balance. Therefore, it is important that you should include foods like chickpeas, legumes, soya and flax seeds in your diet.

2. Sleep: Adequate sleep is extremely essential if you approaching the age of menopause. For this, try maintaining a fixed bedtime schedule. Also, keep all your stress and worries at bay.

3. High-fibre diet: Focus on eating lots of fruits and vegetables as they can help prevent a number of menopause symptoms. Fruits and vegetables are low in calories and can help you feel full for longer so they are great for maintaining a healthy weight. They may also prevent a number of diseases, including heart diseases. This is important, since heart disease risk tends to increase after menopause. 

Fruits and vegetables are low in calories and can help you feel full for longer 
Photo Credit: iStock

Also read: Did You Know Men Too Go Through Menopause? Know All About The Male Menopause

4. Healthy fats: Fats provide energy to the body. Therefore, it is important for you to eat foods that are high in fat like ghee, cottage heese, nuts and seeds, chicken, eggs and avocados.

5. Omega 3: Start including foods like oily fish, healthy  nuts and seeds like chia seeds and flax seeds.  These vital fats play an important role in regulating mood, and also reduce hormone-related depression. To optimize the levels of these fats during the menopause, you should eat eggs, avocados, oily fish, eggs and other healthy sources of omega-3 fatty acids.

6. Adequate water: During menopause, women often tend to experience dryness. This is likely caused by the decrease in estrogen levels. Drinking eight to twelve glasses of water can help with you deal with menopause. Drinking water can also reduce the bloating that can occur with hormonal changes.

7. Stress:  Stress can have a negative effect on your health irrespective of your age. The first step to reduce the symptoms of menopause is to get your diet in order and to do regular physical exercise. This will help stabilize hormone shifts and reduce the physical symptoms that can aggravate mood problems. In order to cope up with stress you also do yoga, meditation and some breathing exercises.

Stress can have a negative effect on your health irrespective of your age. 
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8. Alcohol: As women and men age, they become all the more sensitive to the effects of alcohol on their body. This is because your cartilage and tendons lose water as you age, which causes your body to hold less water. The more water in your body, the better your body can dilute alcohol.

9. Exercise: Your body is designed to move. It is extremely important for us to maintain a healthy body weight no matter what our age is. Your body weight may affect menopause symptoms. Therefore, some sort of physical exercise like walking, cycling, swimming, running is essential.

Your body is designed to move.
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Also read: Are You Pregnant Or Is It Menopause? Know The Difference

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.