Can your diet improve brain health post-menopause?
Some women may have found that menopause had an effect on their brain, inflammation plays a central role in all the chronic conditions of old age, including cognitive decline post-menopause.
Meta analysis research carried out in Australia in 2002 looked at the most successful people who aged well with the lowest rates of cognitive decline across the globe. They found the one thing they all had in common was that they had a high fibre diet.
How does eating a high fibre diet help menopause brain health?
The reason why fibre is so important to the way we age is down to the trillions of gut bacteria, the microbiota, that live in our gut and help us to digest food. Our bodies are hosts to this teaming universe of bacteria that play a powerful role in our longevity. They ferment the fibre that we consume to make short-chain fatty acids that are very powerful and have a range of functions.
Make sure you’re eating enough fibre in menopause!
Experts recommend 25-30gramms of fibre a day.
Great fibre sources include:
Baked beans – half a tin in tomato sauce = 7.4g of fibre
Kidney beans – half a tin drained = 6.6g of fibre
Chia seeds – 1 tablespoon = 5.7g of fibre
Porridge oats – 50g = 50g of fibre
Banana – 1 medium = 4.2g of fibre
Raspberries – 50g = 3.2g of fibre
Other great sources of fibre to include in your menopause diet
Lots of pulses and whole grains
Dose up daily with cruciferous greens – broccoli, bok choi, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, spinach
Eat the rainbow Mediterranean diet – brightly coloured fruit and vegetables
Omega-3 filled oily fish is for brain health, known as the SMASH diet – salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, herring
Olive oil – is ‘liquid gold’! for the Mediterranean diet
Fermented foods feed your gut – kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, natural live yogurt
Stay hydrated - drink water, herbal tea – and a little red wine!
Short-chain fatty acids for a healthy diet post-menopause
An important short-chain fatty acid is butyrate which has been shown to be anti-inflammatory and improves memory and mood. Inflammation is essentially what ages us. It plays a central role in all the chronic conditions of old age, including cognitive decline. The more that inflammation builds up, the frailer we become as we age.
Butyrate helps strengthen the gut barrier, making the gut lining less porous and therefore helps prevent the inflammatory substances entering our body via our gut, which in turn protects our brain and helps boost positive mood in menopause.
Butyrate boosters include:
Beans, oats, and cold potatoes (potato salad is perfect!) contain resistant starch
Apples, peaches, raspberries, citrus, blackcurrants and apricots are all high in pectin.
Onions, leeks and Jerusalem artichokes are good sources of inulin (a type of prebiotic)
Remember, if you’re eating more fibre in your diet, drink more water to keep things moving!
What foods have a negative impact on menopausal moods?
Heavily processed and refined beige foods!
You might also be intersted in reading our blog about the longevity diet.
