How to Alleviate Menopause Onset by Simply Eating the Right Food (part 2)
If you read my post from the other day – “How to Alleviate Menopause Onset by Simply Eating the Right Food (part 1)”, than you already knew that I found out that some food like beef, chicken and pork contains ingredients called saturated fats which can increase menopause signs and symptoms. Today I want to talk a bit about the second food ingredient you should learn to enslave: Carbohydrates.
“…sweets for my sweet, sugar for my honey… ” 
Hey, you know that those little monsters increase your body weight (which is, BTW, another of your menopause signs and symptoms), right? But did you know that by limiting intake of food rich with carbohydrates helps with menopause onset? Yes Ma’am! It alleviates menopause mood swings and depression.
There are three main categories of carbohydrates: starch, sugar and dietary fiber.
Starch carbohydrates are found in all cereal grains, as well as roots and tubers. Starchy foods include: bread, pasta, rice, noodles, couscous, tapioca, potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams.
Sugar carbohydrates are found in a range of natural food, including milk, fruits and sugar beet.
Dietary fiber carbohydrates are found in most plant foods, like fruits and vegetables, legumes and whole grain cereals.
Almost every food contains at least some sort of carbohydrates.
So, what?!? You should starve?!??
Absolutely not!
As a matter of fact your body needs carbohydrates. It is found out by clinical research that depression and mood swings are commonly associated with low blood sugar. So, when the level of sugar in your blood drops, your brain doesn’t like it. You feel its agitation and start feeling anxious or moody.
It’s a real vicious circle! If you don’t take it enough you get depressed. If you intake it too much you get depressed, too!
This is how it works: If you intake more than is needed, your body thinks something like this:
“Ooh! More sugar! Great! But I don’t need that right now. OK, I will store it for later. Oops! Where should I put it? Oh, I know – the tummy is great for storage!”
(No wonder a “spare tire” is a synonym for a stomach!)
So, when the blood sugar rapidly increases – insulin production will surge. Insulin is the substance your body’s producing to be able to remove extra sugar from your blood and then turns it into fat. This will then lead to a person dropping energy levels. Your body gets tired because of all that increased work.
However, you need to know that your body really needs just a minimal amount of carbohydrates to produce that so important energy. And just like not all fats are bad, neither all carbohydrates are. You should just switch to good ones as much as possible.
So, you should get your portion of carbohydrates from fruits, vegetables, whole grains and grain foods, legumes and dairy foods.
But, there’s a catch. 
The carbohydrates you consume should come from carbohydrate-rich foods that are as close to the form that occurs in nature as possible. You should replace highly processed grains, cereals, and sugars with minimally processed whole-grain products and ensure you have at least five serves of fruit and vegetables daily.
For example:
1. Replace large servings of white pasta and rice with a small serving of whole wheat pasta or brown basmati rice.
2. Replace potatoes with more beans/legumes, like kidney beans, lima beans, soy beans, green beans and garbanzo beans (chickpeas).
3. Replace pre-prepared sauces and gravy with herbs and spices to flavor meat, chicken and fish.
4. Include more vegetables like asparagus, cabbage, spinach, collards, kale, broccoli, cauliflower and turnips.
5. Replace processed meats or meat products like sausage, patties, chicken (or fish) sticks and pizza with grilled, baked or broiled chicken or turkey breast, lean meats or fish.
6. Use more good oils like canola oil, olive oil or flaxseed oil (!). The most beneficial way of using these oils is to use them cold, so drizzle over cooked vegetables or salad.
If you turn into practice what you’ve learned here I’m sure that your menopause depression and mood swings will be at least alleviated. But, this is also very helpful information if you are experiencing menopause weight gain.
All in all very healthy information!
Don’t you think?
Menopause Fatigue, Menopause Mood Swings, Menopause Solution, Weight Gain Menopause
