Whether this newsletter topic applies to you directly or indirectly (as it could help someone you care about), my goal today is to provide you with a deeper understanding of menopause AND find natural ways to help you or someone you care about ease through this transition.

There are actually three stages of menopause:

Perimenopause – the time period before actual menopause occurs.

During this stage, the two key female hormones, estrogen and progesterone, start to decline. These hormones cause the uterus to thicken to prepare for possible fertilization. When pregnancy doesn’t occur, the uterine wall sheds off in the form of menstruation. So when these hormones decline, you may experience irregular or erratic periods.

This stage is also known as menopausal transition, which may bring symptoms such as hot flashes, sleeping problems, painful sex, mood swings, irritability, and depression. If you are one who experiences this and think that you may be in menopausal transition, then read on for some tips to ease the symptoms.

Menopause – The time when you have gone without a period for 12 months straight.

Postmenopause – After menopause (that 12 month mark of no menses), you’re now considered postmenopausal from that point onward.

Perimenopause symptoms vary from mild to severe. In some cases, women describe the experience as something that makes them go “crazy.” Because estrogen affects the production of serotonin, the mood-regulator, happiness-booster hormone, having a sudden drop in estrogen can absolutely affect mood stability by altering serotonin production.

Because this stage lasts for many years (about 8-10 years before menopause), dealing with symptoms,  can really affect a woman’s quality of life.

As a practitioner who is trained in functional lab testing interpretation, I find hormonal tests to be very helpful to customize diet, lifestyle and supplement recommendations to support the individual. No two women are exactly the same so neither will their hormonal transitions! That being said, I’d like to share some tips that can be helpful to ease menopausal symptoms:

Avoid trigger foods – Caffeine, alcohol, as well as sugary and spicy foods are common triggers of symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, and mood swings. The best way to know which food triggers what symptom is to keep a symptom diary. Knowing so can help you avoid these triggers without having to necessarily remove everything.

Eat foods high in phytoestrogens — Phytoestrogens are natural compounds found in plants that mimic the action of estrogen in the body, thus they can lessen symptoms of menopause transition such as hot flashes. Soy, black cohosh, flaxseed, berries, mung beans, and lentils have phytoestrogens. Since they have similar actions as estrogen, it is best to discuss with your healthcare provider if there are any contraindications for you personally (this is where hormone testing can be very helpful), especially  if you are already taking estrogen therapy or at a high risk to develop breast cancer.

Also, continue eating a healthy diet rich in protein, plants, and essential fats to support your overall health.
 
Stress management – It is expected that your emotional health may be less balanced because of declining estrogen. Using techniques to manage stress can help support mood stability.

Keeping a morning routine that includes exercising, journaling, listening to positive affirmations, meditating, praying and the like – whatever works for you, really – helps you manage your day-to-day stress and may set a positive mood for your day.

Get enough sleep – The right amount of sleep supports stress resilience and reduces memory problems. Who doesn’t want that?! If falling asleep and waking up at the right time comes as a challenge, try these tips.

Exercise – In addition to cholesterol spikes and weight gain, women in menopausal transition are prone to bone loss. So aside from managing these through diet, exercise can help keep your bones strong and your weight in a healthy range. Exercises for bone strength include walking, running, dancing, and weight training.

I hope that these tips are helpful for you. If you need help with testing or implementing lifestyle changes, please don’t hesitate to approach a health and wellness professional who is qualified to support you.

It is my passion to work with people like you whose health symptoms are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I can help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully.

If you’re ready to discover where your best health has been hiding, I’d love to connect with you!
Apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).

Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health!
~Rebecca

P.S.
Know someone who could use my help?
Send them the link to apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).

Air fryers are a hot (pun intended) trend. They debuted in 2010 and are now continuously loved by Americans. Between May 2017 and mid-March 2019, about 10 million air fryers were sold. Last year, there was an increase in sales of 2 million MORE than in 2019 indicating that this appliance continues to gain in popularity.
So what is exactly an air fryer? And is cooking with one actually healthier or is it just a popular fad?

An air fryer is a small kitchen appliance that has a convection feature. They have a fan inside that continuously blows hot air around the food, and with this continuous flow of heat, food is cooked at all sides.

Air fryers are very famous for frying food with less or no oil at all. Many people are enticed by this so that they can make healthier versions of their favorite fried foods. And, Air fryers can do more than just frying. You can reheat your food in them and even bake, roast, and grill anything you put inside them.

Are air fryers actually healthier?

Well, I want to make it clear that not all air fryer recipes are healthy. Air fryers can help us cook foods in a healthier way, BUT the ingredients matter.

Here are some ways that air fryers can support our health:

• Reduction of fat and calories

Food cooked in traditional deep frying has more calories and fats–that’s a given fact. With the use of an air fryer, food only needs a light coating of oil while others don’t need any at all. Manufacturers of air fryers claim that by using this kitchen device, fat content in food is reduced to about 70-80 %. Now, I am a big fan of fat. Fat is an important macronutrient. It provides important building blocks to your body for creating healthy cell walls and hormones. However, deep frying isn’t a healthy way to prepare food and many oils used to deep fry are horribly unhealthy vegetable oils. So, reducing the intake of poor quality oils is an excellent way to support your health. If you are enjoying the texture of food made in an air fryer and that provides you with a sense of satiety, that can help you normalize your portions and eating frequency to support your weight, digestion, and hormones=WIN! If you are eating too many calories daily, you’re not going to maintain a healthy weight, so again, assuming that you are using good quality foods in your air fryer, preparing your food in one can support weight balance if you are swapping it out for less healthy cooking methods.

• Less formation of harmful compounds

When many oils are heated, trans fats and harmful compounds, such as acrylamide, are formed. According to a study, as reported by the FDA, animals who were exposed to high amounts of acrylamide developed cancer. Acrylamide is a health concern for humans as well and it is helpful  to be conscious about avoiding them. With the use of air fryers, acrylamide content is reduced to about 90%.

• Aid in weight loss

As I mentioned, because there is less calories in food cooked in air fryers versus deep fried, using them can support weight loss. People who have increased consumption of fried foods are at increased risk of health challenges including obesity in the long run.  Also  remember that air fryers are not designed for frying alone, although that is their most popular function. You can bake, roast, or grill in it which are all healthy ways to prepare food.

So, using an air fryer can certainly be a healthy, easy, and convenient way to cook food…but the ingredients we use in the food we make matter. If you start swapping your salads for air fried french fries, that is likely not a wise plan. However, if you start eating more veggies and healthy proteins because you like how they taste using your air fryer, that’s a win! If you cook at home more rather than dining out, that’s a win! 

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to your optimal diet. The best combo would be to customize your diet and then look at the best ways to prepare those optimal foods, such as air frying.

If you’d like to learn more about customizing your diet and optimizing your health, I’d love to connect with you!
Apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).

Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health!
~Rebecca