If you went from a heavy, high-calorie, animal-based diet to a clean, plant-based diet, chances are you dropped weight without even trying. Weight loss alone is a motivating health factor for adopting a vegan diet but what if veganism could ease menopausal symptoms, too? It’s possible.
Plant-based diet and menopause
A new study in the current issue of Menopause suggests that a low-fat diet that is abundant in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains may reduce the dreaded hot flashes and night sweats that often accompany menopause.
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This wasn’t a study of just a small group of women. The Women’s Health Initiative study included 17,473 women. The women who were on a plant-based low-fat diet, experiencing menopausal symptoms, and who had lost weight were less likely to have hot flashes and night sweats after one year compared to women who maintained their weight.
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Previous research suggests that being overweight and weight gain are associated with hot flashes and night sweats. This latest study is among the first and largest to examine the effects of weight loss and dietary change on menopausal symptoms.
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Though additional research needs to be conducted to understand the relationship between diet and the symptoms of menopause, this results of this study are one more demonstration that a healthy plant-based diet is the way to go.
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Does a woman who has had a hysterectomy go through menopause if they only have an eighth of one ovary left?
Women who have a hysterectomy that keep their ovaries do go through menopause. Women who have their ovaries removed go through a surgical menopause because it is the ovaries that produce the reproductive hormones. A woman with some of one ovary left will likely go through menopause immediately following the surgery that removed the ovaries. Talk to an ob/gyn for more information.