Beating the blues

The few years before menopause can be quite trying for many women. Luckily, the right food choices can make all the difference

The few years before menopause can be quite trying for many women. Luckily, the right food choices can make all the difference

Sunita, an active 43-year-old professor, suddenly started feeling lonely, lost and depressed. She would feel hot at odd times during the day and became, as time went by, increasingly withdrawn. She had started gaining weight. She lost interest in sex, she craved for sugar, experienced water retention, couldn’t exercise as she used to, lost her temper more often and felt constantly tired and moody.

Diagnosing the problem
She came to me after she had been to every spa and after trying every fad. I told her she was going through perimenopause — the time just before menopause. It usually begins when a woman is in her early forties. For some years before a woman stops ovulating, her body slows down the production of hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.

Hot flashes are one of the most common symptoms of peri-menopause. They occur anytime of the day, even during sleep. Other symptoms include mood swings, sudden cravings for junk food (refined carbohydrates), irregular or even extremely heavy periods, swollen breasts all the time and depression. All these symptoms don’t come together, but differ from case to case.
At any rate, experiencing even one or two of these symptoms can make a woman feel quite overwhelmed. But the good news is that while the physical and biological changes accompanying the symptoms cannot be avoided, wise food choices can definitely help manage the symptoms. A proper diet should be augmented with nutritional supplements and regular exercise to minimise the effects perimenopause.