7 Ways a Keto Diet is Perfect for Menopause

nutribullet | February 1, 2018

For many of my patients, menopause spells absolute misery. Hot flashes cut into their sleep and create heart palpitations. They frequently feel irritated or “off,” and they often sacrifice their sex lives during the transition.

Hormonal imbalances like estrogen, testosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), which decline around middle age, contribute to these and other issues. Altogether, these imbalances create a perfect storm for problems such as weight gain, mood swings, and crashing libido.

Many patients are surprised to learn that diet and lifestyle choices dramatically impact menopausal symptoms. Even if they’re watching calories, a high-sugar diet (and remember, all carbohydrates break down into sugar) can spike and crash insulin levels, storing fat, exacerbating inflammation, and creating a hormonal-imbalance domino effect.

Chronic stress and anxiety, which nearly every patient experiences, also contribute to hot flashes.

Those hormonal imbalances – especially insulin, which subsequently knocks other hormones out of balance – can lead to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), an inflammatory condition characterized by irregular periods, hormonal imbalances, weight gain, and infertility.

Altogether, it’s a dismal picture. However, after working with hundreds of women going through menopause, I’ve found a solution.

I developed the perfect plan to help my patients feel better, reduce their risks for diseases, and help them become the most fabulous versions of themselves overall.

From that plan came my Keto-Alkaline ™ Diet, which juxtaposes all the benefits of a high-fat ketogenic diet while minimizing its drawbacks by keeping your body alkaline.

Among its benefits, during menopause, a Keto-Alkaline ™ Diet can help:

  1. Balance hormones. A Keto-Alkaline ™ Diet optimizes insulin and other hormone levels so you experience fewer symptoms like hot flashes. If they do occur, they’re usually shorter and less misery-inducing.
  2. Improve brain function. When glucose can’t get into the brain, hot flashes increase while brain health declines. Ketones replace glucose in your brain and other tissues. Maria Emmerich, the author of Keto-Adapted, says a hot flash is your brain trying to protect itself from starving. One of estrogen’s jobs is to get glucose into your brain for fuel, yet during menopause when estrogen drops, so does its ability to get glucose to your brain. A Keto-Alkaline ™ Diet eliminates that glucose problem, reducing or eliminating miserable menopausal symptoms like hot flashes.
  3. Burn fat. As many patients can attest, weight loss becomes a serious challenge during menopause. I’ve found a Keto-Alkaline ™ Diet optimizes hunger-regulating hormones insulin and leptin, reduces the hunger growling hormone ghrelin, and eliminates cravings so you can lose weight and keep it off.
  4. Boost sex drive. A healthy fat-rich Keto-Alkaline ™ Diet improves fat-soluble vitamin absorption, especially vitamin D, a precursor for your sex hormones. A Keto-Alkaline ™ Diet actually improved my patients’ lipid profiles, while helping balance testosterone and other hormones menopause can knock out of whack. The results: more spark between the sheets.
  5. Stabilize energy. Menopause can often leave you feeling fatigued and wiped out. A Keto-Alkaline ™ Diet helps maintain steady energy levels because healthy fats provide a clean, efficient energy source to maintain healthy hormone levels, especially combined with an alkaline diet.
  6. Improve sleep. Even those 100-calorie snack packs can spike and crash your blood sugar, which ultimately impacts the quality of sleep. Combined with hot flashes, palpitations, and other menopausal symptoms, your sleep can really start to suffer. A Keto-Alkaline ™ Diet balances blood sugar levels and optimizes hormones, like cortisol, serotonin, and melatonin, to improve sleep and reset your circadian rhythm.
  7. Lower inflammation. Chronic inflammation can increase during menopause, sparking unpleasant and painful symptoms, and playing a significant role in nearly every disease on Earth. My Keto-Alkaline ™ Diet, which combines healthy anti-inflammatory fats with alkaline-rich foods, reduces joint pain, back pain, and other inflammatory conditions.

My Keto-Alkaline ™ Diet is a two-step process: Before you go keto, I want you to get alkaline. My favorite way to get alkaline is with the Mighty Maca™ Plus, which contains the perfect balance of maca, turmeric, mangosteen, cat’s claw, resveratrol, and other nutrients to control inflammation and maintain alkaline balance.

You needn’t accept hot flashes, low libido, hormonal imbalances, and other menopausal miseries. As many patients can attest, my Keto-Alkaline ™ Diet can help you live a healthy, lean, sexually fulfilling, and vibrant life.

Before making any major lifestyle changes, be sure to consult with your doctor to see if these changes are right for you.


NutriBullet

nutribullet

Nutrition made easy. At nutribullet, we believe that good nutrition has the power to transform lives. Our products, from our blenders to our blends, make nutrition fun and hassle-free for any lifestyle. So, if you're looking for a simple way to be healthy, we've got you covered.

More blog posts.