It's often tough to shed pounds after menopause. A woman's metabolism slows, so her calorie needs go down. Weight gain moves from the thighs and hips to the abdomen, where it ups risk for health issues like heart disease. Weight gain often begins during perimenopause, with the average woman putting on about a pound per year, according to the Mayo Clinic. Often, the changing body requires a woman to alter the way she eats. A low-carb diet might be tempting for women who want to pare postmenopausal pounds--but is it the best answer?
Overeating Carbs
There's no question that eating too many carbohydrates is bad for the body. A poor diet with too much sugary or processed foods can cause vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Too many carbs cause blood sugar levels to spike and then crash. Overeating carbs causes weight gain and can lead to mood swings and even depression. Excessive carbs also bring on a hormone imbalance of insulin and estrogen and progesterone. Carbohydrates primarily react with insulin, the fat-storage hormone. Proteins have a steady effect on blood sugar instead of spiking it.
Cutting Processed Carbs
Cutting intake of processed carbohydrates while increasing intake of protein and healthy fats like omega-3s can lower blood triglyceride and "bad" LDL cholesterol levels, which can reduce risk of cardiovascular disease, according to the Harvard School of Public Health.
Lower Carb Tolerance
The decline in estrogen a woman experiences in menopause decreases her tolerance for carbohydrates and changes the way her digestion works. It takes a woman four hours to process foods in the digestive tract, up from two hours needed earlier in life. This leads to more carbohydrate absorption, raising the fat storage hormone insulin, according to "The Hormone Connection," by Gale Maleskey and Mary Kittel.
Protein
Increasing protein intake can help you lose weight. Protein can make a woman feel full longer because proteins empty from the stomach more slowly than carbs. It takes more energy for the body to digest protein than it does to digest fat or carbohydrate, according to Harvard School of Public Medicine.
Considerations
Women need to exercise caution before jumping on the high-protein, low-carb bandwagon. According to Harvard School of Public Medicine, the long-term effects of such diets are unknown. The allowance for unhealthy fats in some of the diets is worrisome, and eschewing whole grains and fruits means women are not getting healthful fiber, minerals, vitamins and other phytonutrients.
Osteoporosis
Menopausal women may need to be careful how much protein they consume due to concerns about osteoporosis. Eating a very high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet means the body must use a lot of calcium, which can be pulled from a woman's bones.
Good Carb Ratio
It is possible to go "low carb" without being too restrictive. A good hormone-regulating diet consists of 40 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent protein and 30 percent healthful fats, such as omega-3s, omega-6s and omega-9s, according to "Before the Change: Taking Charge of your Perimenopause," by Ann Louise Gittleman. Gittleman recommends eating carbs that are low on the glycemic index and thus release slowly into the body to keep blood sugar levels even and hormones balanced. High-glycemic foods include white rice and white bread. Low-glycemic foods include apples, lentils, cherries and peanuts.
References
- "Before The Change: Taking Charge of Your Perimenopause"; Ann Louise Gittleman; 1998
- "The Hormone Connection"; Gale Maleskey and Mary Kittel; 2001
- Harvard School of Public Health: Protein: Moving Closer to Center Stage
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