I’m a Dietitian. Here Are 6 Nutrition Tips for Perimenopause and Menopause

Menopause is definitely having a moment.

Like everything in life, this is both good, and not so good. Let me explain why.

For decades, menopause has been hidden. 50% of the population goes through this transition, yet 23% of women around the world – and 45% in Canada –  believe that the subject is still taboo and are uncomfortable talking about it. 1 in 2 women feel unprepared for this transition.

95% of menopausal women experience symptoms. A recent survey found that 93% of women have menopausal symptoms that affect their work lives, but 50% of those women don’t feel comfortable speaking to their superiors or HR about their symptoms. Canadian research echoes this, finding that women feel that they’ll be considered ‘old’ or ‘weak’ if they call attention to their symptoms.

The more we talk about and normalize menopause, the more it will be understood…at least, in theory.

The downside of all of the attention that menopause is getting? The exploitation of women. Oh, and the expectations that are foisted upon us in middle age. You know the ones…that we aren’t worthy unless we stay young-looking and thin forever and ever. 

The diet industry used to ignore women in middle age and beyond, probably because it figured we didn’t matter all that much, and that we’d just fade into the background anyhow (see: invisible woman syndrome). Not anymore!

The menopause market is now worth $17.6 billion dollars. The menopause diet and supplement market alone is worth $934 million dollars, and is projected to grow to $1.5 billion dollars by 2034.

I do not recommend the supplement below! Disgusting.

No matter what we eat, take, or do, we’re all going to age, and we are going to go through menopause. What we can do is acknowledge our modifiable risk factors for things like elevated cholesterol, mood dysregulation, declining bone density, and significant weight gain. 

While there is actually no such thing as a specific ‘diet for menopause,’ the tips below are based on the most common nutrition issues I see in middle-aged women in my counselling practice. 

The information and strategies below will help you optimize your diet for menopause.

Make sure you’re getting enough protein, at all meals.

Most of us get enough, but it’s important to ensure that each meal has at least 25-30 grams.

Protein helps maintain our muscle mass, which declines rather precipitously in middle age. It also helps us be fuller for longer, so we don’t spend the time between meals, thinking about food and foraging around. Spread your total protein intake throughout the day, as our body needs a steady stream of amino acids over time.

I get a lot of questions about protein powders, so let’s address that briefly. Protein powders can be very helpful, especially at a meal like breakfast when you’re rushed! Whey or soy protein powders are my go-to recommendations, as soy protein supplementation has been shown to promote muscle mass just as effectively as whey. 

The key to finding a protein powder is making sure you choose one that’s low in sugar, that has 20+ grams of protein per serving (if a serving is 2 scoops, think about whether you’re really going to be able to consume that much in whatever you’re putting it in), and – most importantly – it has to taste good.

I don’t care how perfect on paper a protein powder is, if it tastes like death, you’ll never eat it.

Fibre is key.

Adding fibre is a simple change that has the biggest impact on so many things. These include satiety, gut health, cholesterol levels, regularity, and blood sugar control. 

The trap we fall into when we want to lose weight or improve our health is that we tend to look for the ‘next big thing’ to improve our health or help us lose weight. We ignore the basics (more on that later) in favor of a new shiny diet or fad, which almost never works. Fibre is the #1 basic (and the #2 one, too…ha ha!). If you’re eating a diet that’s high in fibre, it’s almost certainly full of plants, because fibre is found in fruit, vegetables, and whole grains.

Fibre has always been in a PR crisis. It has never been sexy, and has historically been associated with constipation. It’s time to change that perception!

I recommend most people get around 30 grams of fibre a day. Honestly, the best way to boost your fibre intake is to include beans and lentils in your diet. The proposed 2025-2030 US Dietary Guidelines are now recommending we eat 2.5 cups of beans or lentils (all under the umbrella of pulses) every week, and I couldn’t agree more. Previous guidelines recommended only 1/2 cup three times a week.

Pulses are a sustainable, affordable way to get protein, fibre, and health-promoting carbs in your diet. My favorite way to eat them is in a dense bean salad. The credit for this idea goes to Violet Witchel, whose dense bean salad content on TikTok and IG is top-notch.

Here is a recipe for a sundried tomato dense bean salad that I adapted from her:

Want more information? I wrote a post about fibre here. 

Eat on a schedule.

Skipping meals or waiting too long between them often leads to overeating. I see clients trying to be ‘good’ all day by undereating, only to overeat from the moment they get home from work.  Or, they get distracted by work, and go hours without eating. Or, they’ve been told that fasting is the only way for menopausal women to lose weight, so they do that.

Whatever the reason, it usually backfires spectacularly, especially when not eating feels forced, and is combined with all or nothing thinking. As in, ‘today I ate when I wasn’t supposed to/too much, so I’m just going to eat everything and start again tomorrow.’

This isn’t to say that fasting isn’t helpful for some people, but if it’s leading to rebound overeating, it’s probably not the eating pattern for you. If you’ve ever suffered from an eating disorder or disordered eating, do not touch fasting. Don’t even look at it or think about it.

Weight gain, mood swings, dehydration, poor sleep, and lack of energy happen when we don’t feed ourselves. Given that perimenopause and menopause symptoms have some overlap with these things, why exacerbate them with an eating schedule that isn’t working for you?

Eat at regular times through the day, and balance your meals with carbs, protein, and fat. Eat when you’re hungry, but try not to let yourself get overhungry before eating. This almost always leads to overeating.

Alcohol is making everything worse.

The U.S. Surgeon General recently released an advisory on alcohol as a risk factor for cancer. That’s not a shock; we’ve known it pretty much forever. That aside, alcohol is basically empty calories, and I don’t use that phrase lightly. But it really and truly is, because there is no nutritional value to alcohol. There is literally no benefit or upside to consuming it, only negatives.

Alcohol can increase the frequency of hot flashes, although the research seems to be mixed. We know that it disrupts sleep, mess with blood sugar levels, negatively impact mood, and cause weight gain. It can also elevate blood pressure and cholesterol, which tends to rise in menopause anyhow.

The safe drinking guidelines here in Canada are maximum one drink per day for women, and if you don’t drink at all, don’t start. In fact, Health Canada has declared that no amount of alcohol is safe. 

The lesson here is not to quit drinking altogether, but to examine your drinking habits and see if you can cut down your alcohol consumption to as little as possible.

You don’t need a restrictive diet or supplements to lose weight and age well.

When it comes to nutrition, we just love to major in the minors. Fad diets, fistfuls of unproven supplements, listening to non-experts giving us rule after rule about how we need to eat in menopause. 

None of that is helpful, especially if you don’t have the more impactful nutrition habits down: eating enough fruits (1-2 a day) and vegetables (at least 3 cups a day), increasing your intake of fibre, being organized with shopping and prep so you eat less restaurant food – these are just some of the things that most of us need to focus on before adding anything else.

The number of supplements marketed to women in perimenopause and menopause is huge. Supplements aren’t well regulated, and the claims made about a lot of them are completely ridiculous. In fact, there are very few I’d make a blanket recommendation for. 

The only one that I ask clients to check is Vitamin D, which is often low in those of us in colder climates (get your D levels tested before you start supplementing!). 

If you’re eating a balanced, varied diet, you’re probably fine and don’t need to supplement.

**Creatine** supplementation in menopause has been a topic of conversation lately, so let’s clear up what the research says (and doesn’t say).

When combined with a strength training regimen, creatine supplementation may improve muscle mass gains in menopausal women. The same study cited some benefits of creatine supplementation and cognitive health and sleep, although those remain to be proven with more recent evidence.

The research around creatine and bone density is less conclusive. It seems to have no effect on bone mineral density, but may improve bone structure at the proximal femur (the end of the long bone in your leg, that’s closest to your body).

Understand that weight gain is likely a combination of factors, not just ‘hormones.’

A lot of menopause diets focus on ‘hormone imbalance’ as the reason for weight gain in perimenopause and menopause.

That’s essentially an oversimplification of a complex situation. Not surprising, since companies love to skirt the complex stuff in favor of a short, fear-based marketing scheme.

The truth is that hormonal shifts during this time of life cause the redistribution of body fat from other areas of the body, to the abdomen. There is no getting around this – it’s a normal part of this transition. Your waist will all but disappear, seemingly overnight. 

While this can be alarming to see, an excess of visceral fat aka the fat that’s in the abdominal area, is also not what we want from a health perspective. It increases our risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke, diabetes, high cholesterol, fatty liver, and insulin resistance. 

Everyone has some fat in their abdomen, but we don’t want it to be in excess.

Recent research shows that our metabolic rate is mostly stable between the ages of 20-60, at which point it starts a slow downward trajectory. In other words, when someone blames their weight gain on a slowing metabolism, that’s unlikely to be accurate.

Middle age is actually not the time of life where men and women gain the most weight; research shows that that distinction belongs to the 20s and 30s. 

So, why have you gained weight? Here are some likely reasons:

You’ve slowly gained pounds over the years, reaching critical mass in your 40s and 50s. When fat is redistributed to the abdomen, it’s even more noticeable.

You’re more sedentary than you used to be.

You’re sleeping less, and you’re juggling a lot in your life.

Your diet has changed. More takeout, more alcohol, overeating from grazing all day, stress eating, or eating on the go.

Creating a food journal to track what and when you’re eating is an invaluable exercise that I have my clients and course participants do. If you’re looking to pinpoint what exactly is happening in terms of your weight and your diet, start there.

Remember, you don’t have to make changes all at once! Make small tweaks, and think of each of them as stepping stones to the next one.

Need more help?

I offer 1:1 counselling that helps people optimize their diet for healthy weight loss and aging. For more information and to book, click here.

Prefer online learning at your own pace? My online course for perimenopause and menopause, Don’t Sweat It, is live now! Click here for more information. Use code dsi20 for 20% off your enrolment!