Dr. Laila Kaikavoosi is a general practitioner, specialist in menopause, and the founder of the Online Menopause Center, the UK’s first online menopause clinic. She told Express.co.uk what happens to her body during menopause and how to lead a healthy lifestyle when a woman reaches a certain age.
Dr. Kaikavoosi explained that “some physiological changes occur” when a woman enters the menopause, about 51 years old, in the United Kingdom.
She continued. “Female hormones have a protective effect against cardiovascular disease, dementia, osteoporosis and inflammatory diseases.
“The lower the level of menopause, the more common the diagnosis of a particular health condition.”
Menopause also makes it easier for women to put on weight.
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Dr. Kaikavoosi said: “During menopause, lower levels of female hormones reduce metabolic rate.
“There is also a loss of muscle mass that leads to a decrease in metabolism.
“This, coupled with some food intolerance or hypersensitivity that can occur at this point, makes it easier for women to gain weight.”
So how can middle-aged women start losing weight and maintain their premenopausal shape?
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According to Dr. Kaikavoosi, “dramatic and permanent declines in female hormones, and generally elevated levels of cortisol, play important roles in the process of weight gain in older women.”
“Therefore, the same diet that may have helped you lose weight in the past may not work at menopause,” she said.
“Women need to work on lowering cortisol levels.
“Cortisol is one of the adrenal hormones known as the” stress “hormone and can prevent glucose metabolism. “
The doctor further advised: “Women can start losing weight by increasing physical activity, reducing their intake of alcohol, fat and sugar-rich diets, reducing stress levels and paying attention to sleep.
“Women need to think more about a plant-based diet as they enter the menopause.
“Nuts such as mackerel, sardines and salmon, and excellent fats such as avocado and oily fish balance hormones and help with heart and brain health.
“Stomach acid decreases with age, making digestion difficult and can lead to food intolerance.
“Therefore, it is beneficial to incorporate natural probiotics such as fermented foods (kimchi, kefir, sauerkraut) into the diet.”
There are parts of the body that gain weight more easily and quickly than the others, one of which is the waist.
To reduce the fat in the stomach and the weight that collects around the waist, Dr. Kaikavosi recommended increasing physical activity and paying attention to the type and amount of food intake.
She advised to do “aerobic exercises such as jogging, walking fast, swimming and cycling”.
“We also need to reduce processed products, animal products, sugar and simple carbohydrates, and increase plant-based complex carbohydrates and good quality fats,” the doctor added.
“Alcohol is also high in calories, but nutritionally empty drinks and their intake should be kept to a minimum.”
