Today's topic
Today on A.Vogel Talks Menopause, I'm going to be looking at menopause symptoms that can be triggered after eating, why they happen, and what you can do to help yourself.
Do you ever find that symptoms suddenly appear after you've eaten or drunk something? Do you find that they sometimes get worse after you've eaten? This is really quite common during menopause. And what we have found is that when you eat, how you eat, and what you eat can have an impact, sometimes quite dramatically, on your symptoms.
What symptoms can be triggered after eating?
So, let's have a look at some of the symptoms that can appear after eating or drinking.
You've got hot flushes, night sweats, bloating, as well as indigestion, or gastric reflux, and fatigue. I looked at how certain foods can trigger fatigue a few weeks ago in my blog 'Foods that can make menopause fatigue worse', so have a little look at that one if you haven't already seen it.
Sleep and mood can also be affected, which can also trigger headaches or palpitations.
What causes symptoms to trigger after eating
So, what is the cause?
Food triggers
Very often, it's just the types of foods and drinks that you're having. Our nervous system gets much more irritated and it becomes much more sensitive to certain things than before menopause.
So even things like a cup of coffee, or something really sweet, or something really salty, will rev up your nervous system. This can then trigger a rush of adrenaline, which can cause a raft of menopause-like symptoms.
Poor digestion
We know that falling oestrogen can slow down our whole digestion and that can have an impact and also cause things like indigestion, or flatulence, or just a feeling of being really, really uncomfortable.
Eating on the go
We're not designed to multi-task when we're eating, so eating on the go can really affect digestion. We should either be sitting down and eating or doing something else.
But if you are really rushed, if you're not chewing your food properly, if you're on the go, if you're physical, then that can have a huge impact. And again, very often, in this situation, it's the adrenaline that's causing all these symptoms.
Eating large amounts of food
It could be eating large meals and this is certainly a fact at night, if you eat too much, too soon before you go to bed, that can put a terrible strain on your digestive system and that will impact on your sleep and also possibly trigger night sweats as well.
What to do to help ease symptoms after eating
So, what to do to help ease symptoms after eating or stop them triggers? There are lots of simple things you can do, such as:
A food diary
You could look at keeping a food diary for a few weeks. Just write down every day. Be honest, because it's certain foods that are not good for us any way that tend to cause a lot of these problems. Write down all the foods and drinks that you've had at each meal and in between meals.
You might find that it is certain foods or drinks that are causing this. It doesn't always have to be the obvious ones, you know. Yes, tea, coffee, alcohol, high salt and sugar foods, processed foods, foods that contain monosodium glutamate, these are primary culprit, but it can also be certain healthy foods.
It could be things like fruit juices. We do know that for some people, members of the deadly nightshade family, which are foods such as potatoes, tomatoes, aubergines, and peppers, can also be a trigger for certain menopause symptoms. So, it's a good idea to look at everything, just to see if you have become a little bit more sensitive to certain foods than you were before the menopause started.
Chew your food well
As I mentioned above, eating on the go is one of the worst things that you can do for yourself, so chew really well. Chew slowly because if you do that, your food is likely to be digested much more easily. That's going to put less strain on your digestive tract and that can help to avoid some of these symptoms as well.
My Self-Care tip: How to chew well
In my self-care video below, I explain how to chew your food well to help break it down properly. Plus, how else chewing well can help you.
Sit up straight when you eat
This is really important because it allows your stomach to work properly and effectively at helping you to digest your food.
Bitter herbs
If you find it is certain foods and you're getting a lot of indigestion, or burping, or wind after you eat them, then bitter herbs such as Centaurium, which are taken maybe about 15 minutes before eating, can sometimes make a huge difference.
Improve your diet
Look at improving your diet if it needs it, such as limiting all the naughty 'bad' foods such as caffeine (tea and coffee), fizzy drinks, savoury foods and processed foods
I always recommend a diet packed with plenty fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and quality protein.
One of the ways in which to avoid food triggers is to have a really varied diet so that you're not eating the same foods every day.
This can be quite difficult because we become creatures of habit. And most of us tend to have the same things for breakfast, roughly the same things for lunch, and roughly the same things for our evening meal. So, changing that on a daily basis means that our system is not going to be stressed or triggered by the same food on a daily basis.
Remember to drink water, but limit it during meals
This is really important, especially if there's a lot of adrenaline going around the system. But don't drink a lot whilst you eat, which, unfortunately, most of us do, because this can dilute our digestive juices and that can end up being part of the problem.
So, drink lots of water but in between meals and up to maybe half an hour before eating is the best way forward with this.
I hope you found this one helpful. If any of you have discovered there are any foods or drinks that make your symptoms worse and what you did to help yourself, we would love you to share them with us.
Until next week, take care.
