Can diet help menopausal aches and pains?

If only there were a miracle menopause diet! While there’s no magic formula, many foods can help fight inflammation and improve your menopause body aches, joint pain with the added benefit of helping with other symptoms. Aim to eat that ‘healthy and varied diet’ - one that’s high in fibre, wholegrains, fruit and vegetables and low in processed foods, sugar and salts.

Aim for a diet rich in whole foods, including fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, and beans. Sound familiar? This diet follow the principles of a Mediterranean diet, which is frequently flaunted for its anti-inflammatory, disease-fighting powers.

Does the Mediterranean diet help with menopause joint pain?

A diet rich in whole foods, including fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, and bean can help relieve joint pain. Sound familiar? This diet follow the principles of a Mediterranean diet, which is frequently flaunted for its anti-inflammatory, disease-fighting powers, as well as the benefits of:
•    Lower blood pressure
•    Protect against chronic conditions, ranging from cancer to stroke
•    Help painful joints and arthritis by reducing inflammation
•    Benefit your joints as well as your heart
•    Lead to weight loss, lessening pressure on your joints and reducing pain

What foods could benefit menopausal joint pain?

• Calcium is essential for bone health; found in dark leafy greens, low-fat milk and cheese, fortified soya products, sardines, broccoli, nuts, and seeds. According to the National Osteoporosis Society, magnesium helps with the metabolism and may maximum calcium absorption, so eat magnesium-rich foods, natural yoghurt, almonds, peanuts, bananas and avocados.

• Vitamin C Lovely colourful fruits and leafy green vegetables contain vitamin C, that’s important for maintaining bone density and protects against fractures.

• Vitamin D Essential for calcium absorption. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found vitamin D deficiency may mean your body absorbs only 10 to 15% of the calcium in the food you eat. The best source is sunshine, but we can get some vitamin D from our diet by eating more: oily fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel), eggs mushrooms (especially shitake) and fortified cereals, milk, margarine, and orange juice.

• Essential fatty acids may help reduce inflammation in the body. Eat more: oily fish SMASH - salmon, mackerel anchovies, sardines and halibut, linseeds, chia seeds and walnuts.

• Eat more Anti-inflammatory fruit and vegetables, in particular: blackberries, cherries, pomegranates and blueberries. Leafy dark vegetables such as Swiss chard, spinach, and kale, plus sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage.

What can trigger menopause joint aches and pain?

Being a beige food lover!

The Women to Women integrative health clinic (US), identifies a link between digestive disorders and joint inflammation, possibly due to a diet high in refined carbohydrates. It could be worth experimenting by cutting out certain products: flour, rice, pasta, sugars, and processed foods to see if it has any impact on your pain.  

Looking for healthy recipes to improve your menopause health?

We’ve got a host of delicious dishes over in our Diet and Recipes section that will benefit many menopause symptoms.