Menopause can bring numerous annoying symptoms, including hot flashes and night sweats. Eliminating white sugar from your diet may help you balance your hormones and lose weight, which can reduce risk for night sweats. While sugar tastes good, it is not an essential part of any diet, notes "Get the Sugar Out" author Ann Louise Gittleman.
Weight Gain and Sugar
Eating sugar raises your risk for gaining weight. There is a correlation between obesity and more frequent and intense hot flashes among women. Women who have higher body mass indexes have higher levels of testosterone and lower levels of other sex hormones and sex-hormone-binding globulin, which may explain the association between obesity and hot flashes, according to a 2007 study published in the International Menopause Society journal ""Climacteric." Reducing your sugar intake is often recommended in weight-loss programs. Losing excess weight may help you reduce risk for night sweats, notes Diana Yates in the April 2007 University of Illinois article, "Hot Flashes: Studies Explore the Role of Genes, Obesity and Alcohol."
Hormone Imbalances
Eating too much sugar can lead to hormone imbalance, notes "Cleanse Your Body, Clear Your Mind" author Jeffrey Morrison. On the flip side, eating to support your adrenal glands, which help balance hormone levels, can help you restore some balance to your hormones if they are out of whack. Hormonal imbalance is associated with night sweats and hot flashes. Keeping your blood sugar steady is one key to supporting your adrenal glands. That means you need to avoid sugar and the processed foods that contain it because sugar leads to blood-sugar spikes, says Len Lopez in the CBN.com article "Balance Your Body for Renewed Vitality." Keeping your blood sugar steady also cuts your diabetes risk, especially if you have prediabetes. With prediabetes, you are at risk of developing diabetes within 10 years. You are in the early stages of insulin resistance in which your body does not use insulin properly and your blood glucose levels go to high. There is a link between an inability to properly use insulin and hormone imbalances.
Other Sugar Forms
White sugar is not the only culprit when it comes to weight gain and poor adrenal function. All forms of sugar have equal effects. Any ingredient ending with the letters "ose" is a sugar, such as fructose or glucose. Also look out for corn syrup, date sugar, dextrose, cane juice, barley malt, dextran, fruit juice concentrate, maltodextrin, honey, molasses, mannitol, refiner's syrup, yellow sugar and sorghum syrup. Better yet, check the label to see how many grams of sugar are in each serving.
Recommendations
A diet low in white and other sugars is one of many recommended dietary changes that can minimize symptoms and health risks associated with menopause. The University of Maryland Medical Center recommends consuming a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, choosing whole grains over processed foods, eating fish twice weekly, limiting saturated fat and limiting salt. All these elements can help you maintain a healthy body weight, which is one key to reducing risks associated with menopause. UMMC also advises you to avoid direct hot flash and night sweat triggers such as hot beverages, spicy foods, alcohol and caffeine.
References
- "Get the Sugar Out"; Ann Louise Gittleman; 2008
- University of Illinois; "Hot Flashes---Studies Explore the Role of Genes, Obesity and Alcohol"; Diana Yates; April 2007
- "Climacteric": Relation of Body Mass and Sex Steroid Hormone Levels to Hot Flushes in a Sample of Midlife Women; C. Schilling, et al.; 2007
- "Hot Flashes, Hormones and Your Health"; JoAnn E. Manson, Shari Bassuk; 2006
- National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse: Diabetes Insulin Resistance and Pre-Diabetes
- "Cleanse Your Body, Clear Your Mind"; Jeffrey Morrison; 2011
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