Hormone Therapy and Healthy Aging: What to Know in 2025
As the new year approaches, many of us begin thinking about how we can prioritize our health and well-being in the months ahead. As we get older, a key aspect of healthy aging involves addressing the changes in hormone levels that can contribute to symptoms like fatigue, weight gain, and mood shifts. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has long been recognized as a powerful tool to help manage these common issues and support overall vitality. Let’s take a look at the benefits of hormone therapy, address common concerns about its safety, and highlight how it can help people like you enjoy a better quality of life as you age!
Energy and Fatigue
One of the most common symptoms experienced by both men and women as hormone levels fluctuate is fatigue. Whether it’s hot flashes and night sweats keeping women awake during menopause or low testosterone leaving men feeling drained and tired, hormone imbalances can significantly disrupt your energy levels and sleep habits. Hormone therapy helps restore balance, allowing you to regain the energy and vitality needed to tackle your daily tasks and enjoy an active lifestyle.
Weight Gain and Metabolism
Another frustrating symptom of aging is weight gain, which many individuals find harder to control as they get older. Hormone therapy can be an effective tool in addressing these issues by promoting a healthier metabolism and helping maintain a leaner body composition. Estrogen and progesterone therapy for women, along with testosterone replacement for men, can support better muscle mass retention, reduce fat accumulation, and can enhance the body’s ability to burn calories. These changes, in turn, contribute to a more balanced weight, better overall health, and crucially, improved self-esteem, making it easier for you to feel comfortable in your own skin as you age.
Mood Stabilization and Emotional Well-Being
Mood swings, irritability, and even depression are common complaints for both women and men as their hormone levels fluctuate during their later years. In women, menopause-related drops in estrogen can affect serotonin production, the brain’s “feel-good” chemical, leading to mood disturbances. Men, on the other hand, may experience irritability or feelings of sadness as testosterone levels decline. Hormone therapy can help regulate these mood changes by restoring a more stable hormonal environment. HRT has been shown to help alleviate symptoms of anxiety, depression, and irritability, improving emotional well-being as well as improving mood, reducing feelings of fatigue, and increasing motivation. Many people report a clearer mind and a more positive outlook on life as a result of hormone therapy.
Is Hormone Therapy Safe?
As with any medical treatment, safety is a primary concern when considering hormone therapy. Over the years, there has been some debate surrounding the risks associated with hormone replacement, particularly regarding conditions like cancer and cardiovascular disease. However, recent studies suggest that hormone therapy, when properly prescribed and monitored, can be a safe and effective way to manage symptoms associated with menopause and aging.
It’s important to note that personalized hormone therapy is key. A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work for everyone, and hormone therapy should be tailored to an individual’s specific needs. This is why it’s essential to work closely with a healthcare provider, like the team members at Renewed Vitality, who is knowledgeable in hormone management to find the right dosage and type of therapy.
Hormone Therapy and Overall Vitality
Beyond managing symptoms like fatigue, weight gain, and mood changes, hormone therapy offers broader benefits for overall well-being. Proper hormonal balance supports bone health, heart health, and even sexual health, all of which can be areas of concern as we age. For women, estrogen helps maintain bone density, reducing the risk of osteoporosis. For men, testosterone therapy can improve muscle mass and bone strength, preventing injury. Proper hormonal balance can also enhance cognitive function, support healthy skin and hair, and promote better sleep, all of which can help you to feel more vibrant and youthful overall. This holistic improvement in physical, emotional, and cognitive health contributes to a more fulfilling, active lifestyle as you age.
As we welcome the new year, taking charge of your health and well-being should be at the forefront of your mind. For those navigating menopause or struggling with aging, hormone therapy offers a safe, effective way to manage symptoms and feel more like yourself again. With proper guidance from a healthcare provider, hormone therapy can help you regain the energy, emotional balance, and physical vitality needed to enjoy life to the fullest!
If you’re considering hormone therapy as part of your strategy for healthy aging, take the first step by contacting us at Renewed Vitality today. Together, we can create a personalized plan that aligns with your unique needs and goals, helping you feel your best inside and out. Here’s to a healthier, more vibrant 2025!
According to the CDC, breast cancer is the second most common cancer in American women after skin cancer, and around 270,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. Medical research about this disease has progressed in leaps and bounds over the past few decades. Breast cancer is now a very treatable condition, but one thing remains the same– the earlier you catch it, the better.
Although younger women are still at risk, breast cancer primarily affects women who are over 50, or in their menopausal years. This means that as you age, it becomes more important than ever to perform self breast exams and get mammograms so that any unusual changes in your breasts can be noted and monitored. However, menopause comes with a host of changes to your breasts that are completely normal, so how do you know what’s a problem and what’s a typical sign of your body aging? This list will help you determine when to worry about the risk of breast cancer, so keep reading to learn more!
Normal Breasts
Lumps
Lumps in the breast are one of the most well-known signs of breast cancer, and feeling a lump can make any woman’s stomach drop. However, not all lumps in the breast are cancerous, or even abnormal! If you feel a lump that is not painful, that is smooth and regular in its shape and texture, and that moves freely under the skin and tissue instead of being fixed in one spot, it’s probably something benign like a cyst or a fibroadenoma. You should still tell your doctor about it, but it’s likely not a problem.
General Soreness
Pain can be a sign of serious problems in the breast, but it’s also a normal symptom of hormonal changes in the body. Sore, uncomfortable breasts can indicate PMS, pregnancy, or menopause. As a rule of thumb, if your breast pain is affecting both sides and can be felt across the majority of the breast instead of one specific spot, it isn’t worrisome, especially if it’s accompanied by other signs of hormonal fluctuations.
Inverted Nipples
Part of the reason regular self breast exams are so important is because recognizing signs of cancer involves learning what’s normal for you, and noticing if something changes. Inverted nipples are a major warning sign of cancer, but only if your nipples suddenly invert. If you’ve always had nipples that point in, that’s normal!
Discharge
Discharge can sometimes be a cause for concern, but many women experience perfectly normal and healthy nipple discharge in their lives. You should always make a note of any nipple discharge that isn’t breast milk and tell your doctor about it, but it’s most likely not something you need to worry about.
Size Change
Once you’re past puberty, it would certainly be convenient if your breasts stayed the same size, but in reality that’s often not the case! Many things can cause a woman’s breasts to fluctuate in size, from the menstrual cycle to pregnancy and breastfeeding. You may notice changes in how your breasts look as you enter menopause. Your falling estrogen levels can cause your breasts to lose volume and look smaller. However, if your change in breast size is affecting both sides equally, it can be considered normal!
Warning Signs of Breast Cancer
Abnormal Lumps
Cancerous lumps in the breast are sometimes painful and sometimes painless. They are often “fixed,” meaning they’re stuck to one spot in the breast and are not easy to move. Lumps that are a sign of cancer are also often irregular in the way they feel, being rough or bumpy instead of smooth. If you feel a lump like this in your breast or under your arm, make an appointment with your doctor right away.
Skin Changes
A common sign of breast cancer is “dimpling” of the skin in a specific area, sometimes called orange peeling because of the way it makes the skin’s texture look like an orange. Areas that are red, dry, or feel thicker than the areas around them can also be warning signs that should be checked out by a doctor.
Suddenly Inverted Nipples
Having inverted nipples is normal, but having your nipples become inverted suddenly after never being that way before is something that you should call your doctor about immediately.
Abnormal Discharge
While some nipple discharge is normal, it can also be a sign of cancer, so you should always tell a doctor about any nipple discharge you experience, especially if you notice that your discharge is bloody.
Abnormal Size or Shape Change
Changes in the size and shape of the breast that can’t be explained by a hormonal change like PMS or menopause are a definite cause for concern. This is especially true if you notice that a change is only affecting one breast and not the other, or if you’re noticing that one particular area of the breast is larger or looks like it’s bulging.
Taking Care of Your Health
Monthly Self-Exams
Even if you’ve never done them before, it’s never too late to make doing self breast examinations a part of your routine. Once a month, go through the steps of a self-exam and make note of anything that seems out of the ordinary to bring up to your doctor. This is important not just to look for lumps and other signs of cancer, but so that you can get familiar with your breasts and know when something is normal for you and when something is new!
Annual Exams and Mammograms
Mammograms aren’t fun, but they are vitally important to lowering your risk of breast cancer and allowing any problems in your breast to be caught early enough to be treatable. The American Cancer Society recommends that women get a mammogram every year from ages 45 to 54 (or even younger, especially if you have a family history of breast cancer) and every two years from age 55 onwards. You should also be getting a breast cancer screening from your doctor or gynecologist every year! These exams can not only allow you to catch breast cancer at a treatable stage, but they can make the treatment process far easier and more painless. Their importance can’t be overstated, so if you’ve been putting off your mammogram or screening, now is the time to schedule it!
Breast cancer risk is a part of life for women, especially as you enter menopause, but it doesn’t have to be something that scares you if you follow these steps and make sure you’re getting your regular exams. To learn more about menopause and women’s hormonal health, you can continue to read our blog here!
While going through the drastic changes of menopause is something that no woman enjoys, it’s not uncommon for women of all ages to look forward to one aspect of menopause with happiness– the end of their period. Perhaps no one in the world is more eager to no longer have to deal with menstruation than women who suffer from endometriosis. This condition, which causes the endometrium, or uterine lining, to grow in places other than the inside of the uterus, can be debilitating, causing heavy, painful periods, infertility, pain with activity in the pelvic area, including sex and bowel movements, and many other unpleasant symptoms.
For some women, menopause is the end of their story with endometriosis. However, this is not the case for everyone, and this condition makes life difficult during a woman’s younger years, it can also continue to affect her long after her period has ended. If you or someone you love has endometriosis, it’s important to know about the way it affects menopause going in, so that you can prepare with your doctor and be ready with treatment options as needed to help maintain your comfort and health!
Menopause and Endometriosis Remission
In some cases, the beginning of menopause marks the end of endometriosis, and a woman can be considered fully in remission once the process of perimenopause (the length of time before menstruation has officially ended) is over. The main contributing factor in both the start of menopause and the end of endometriosis is estrogen.
Estrogen is the main heavy lifter in terms of the female reproductive system, and most of the symptoms associated with menopause (hot flashes, night sweats, body changes, mood swings, etc.) are due to estrogen levels in the body falling as a woman ages. This drop in estrogen also causes a reduction in the presence of endometrium, which relies on this hormone to grow. Because of this, many women experience relief from their endometriosis symptoms once menopause sets in!
Postmenopausal Endometriosis
The role of estrogen in endometriosis as a condition means that how a woman manages menopause has to be different when she has had it. For many women, hormone replacement therapy that adds estrogen back into their system is a safe and effective way to relieve the unpleasant symptoms of menopause. For women with endometriosis, however, estrogen hormonal treatments carry the risk of “reactivating” the condition, stimulating the growth of endometrium again and bringing back the pain and other issues that go along with it. Women who are struggling with the symptoms of menopause that can’t undergo hormone treatment for this reason should discuss alternate ways of finding relief with their doctor.
Endometriosis that continues after menopause is referred to as postmenopausal endometriosis. In almost all cases, it’s found in women who had endometriosis before they entered menopause. While it’s extremely rare, it is possible for a woman to develop endometriosis for the first time after menopause. The most common symptoms are increased pelvic pain, especially during urination, bowel movements, or sex. If you develop these symptoms, discuss them with your doctor immediately. They can be signs of postmenopausal endometriosis, or signs of other conditions like pelvic cancers.
Endometriosis Treatment and Menopause
Sometimes, endometriosis has to be treated with radical options like a hysterectomy or removal of the ovaries. In these situations, a woman experiences what is known as medically induced menopause, or menopause that comes on as a result of a medical intervention, not natural hormonal changes. This treatment route can often (though not always) result in symptom relief for people with endometriosis, but it does come with the sudden onset of menopause symptoms, which can be difficult to manage, especially for younger women. While hormone replacement therapy is often an invaluable option for women who have had a hysterectomy, it’s best avoided for women with a history of endometriosis, as it can encourage the condition to continue even after medically induced menopause.
Endometriosis is a condition that can affect every aspect of your life, including how you experience menopause. While it’s not yet completely understood, the medical field is working hard to develop treatments and methods to help people cope with it, both in their youth and during menopause! If you are struggling with endometriosis, know that there are many options out there that can help you take back control of your life. If you have further questions, contact our team today! We’ll be happy to help you.
Menopause is something that all women eventually deal with. We all know it’s coming, but whether or not you ever actually feel ready for it is a different story! Menopause can feel pretty similar to how it felt being a young girl entering puberty for the first time– it’s a whole new world of confusing changes and strange symptoms that you have to learn how to navigate. Luckily, this time you’re going through it as a much wiser adult, and you can find ways to make it easier!
Educating yourself is one thing you can do to take the stress out of entering menopause. There are a lot of unfamiliar terms that you’ll hear being thrown around at this stage in your life, and learning what they mean can be helpful! Here are some common ones to know the definitions of.
Menopause
First off, what is the actual definition of menopause itself? We often use this term in a slightly inaccurate or nonspecific way to refer to anything and everything that has to do with a woman’s hormonal health during middle age and her later years. In actuality, menopause very specifically refers to a period of time when you have gone a full twelve months without experiencing a period. It’s the permanent ending of your menstrual cycle. While you can refer to yourself as being “in menopause” when you’re starting to experience things like hot flashes and irregular periods, you actually haven’t hit the real deal yet.
Perimenopause
This next term refers to the process of your period stopping. It means something similar to “pre-menopause,” and it’s what we often refer to as just plain menopause in casual settings. This stage can last anywhere from a few months to a few years. The main engine behind it is that your ovaries are slowly reducing their production of estrogen, leading to common symptoms like mood swings, hot flashes, body changes, sleep issues, and of course, irregular periods.
Early Menopause
The average age to enter menopause is 52. This isn’t the age, of course, that everyone will enter menopause at. Some people stop their periods much earlier or much later; between the ages of 45 and 55 is typical. However, if you enter menopause earlier than age 45, you’re considered to be in “early menopause.” If you hit it at younger than 40, you’re considered to be in “premature menopause.” Sometimes there is a definitive medical reason for this– for example, if a person has their ovaries removed, they are considered to be in “surgical menopause” since the abrupt lack of hormones in their body kickstarts the side effects of menopause regardless of age. However, sometimes early or premature menopause just happen with no clear cause. If women in your family have a history of early menopause, it might be a good idea to discuss it with your doctor.
BHRT
The term HRT refers to hormone replacement therapy, or any treatment where a lack of a certain hormone in the body is supplemented through prescribed hormones from a doctor. BHRT refers specifically to bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Bioidentical hormones are synthetic, or man-made, and the closest the hormones that your body naturally produces. They’re specially designed to be chemically identical to your natural hormones, so they’re easy for the body to absorb, recognize, and use. Here at Renewed Vitality, bioidentical hormones are the kind that we rely on for our life-changing treatments! You can learn more about our BHRT options here.
Your overall health and wellbeing is greatly affected by your genetics, and looking at the medical history of your family can be a good way to predict certain things. Conditions like heart problems or certain cancers can have a genetic component, and you can even be particularly prone to certain mental health disorders if they tend to run in your family.
You may wonder if this means that your genetics will have an impact on your experience of menopause. Will you begin menopause at the same age as your mother, grandmothers, and other female relatives? If they have a difficult time and struggle with their symptoms, does that mean that the same will be true for you? The answer isn’t entirely cut and dry, so let’s take a closer look at the link between genetics and menopause!
Early Menopause
Early menopause is something that can potentially affect any woman, but that can be very tricky to predict. The only time you can ever really know when you’re going to hit menopause is when you’ve actually hit it. However, there are some indicators that can help you to predict when the onset of menopause will begin for you, and your genetics are one of them.
If close female relatives of yours have begun menopause early or prematurely (before 45 or 40), especially if multiple women in your family have experienced the same thing, there’s a chance that this will be the case for you as well. However, it’s not a guarantee. There is a correlation between genetics and the age of menopause onset, but not a clearly identifiable link, and scientists are still working on understanding how much of the way your body works is because of your genes, how much is due to external factors, and how much is simply random.
Menopause Symptoms
In a similar vein, genetics can be a factor in how you experience menopause itself, but not the end-all-be-all that decides what your menopausal years will be like. If your mother, sisters, aunts, and cousins all experienced brutal hot flashes or gained a great deal of weight, for example, there’s a good chance you will as well, but it’s just that– a chance, not a sure thing.
Think of the link between genetics and menopause like the link between genetics and pregnancy. Things like having big babies or carrying past your due date might be common in certain families, but that doesn’t mean it’s definitely going to happen for every woman of one genetic line in every pregnancy she has. Just because your mother had terrible morning sickness when she was pregnant with you doesn’t mean that you’ll go through the same thing. Genetics do play a factor in the experience of things like pregnancy and menopause, but there are many other factors at play– even ones you can control!
Other Contributing Factors
So, genetics are a factor in menopause, but not the only factor you have to consider. So what else determines when you will enter menopause, and what it will be like for you? The answer: a lot of things, and many of them are within your control!
Your lifestyle choices can play an important role in how menopause plays out for you. Women who are heavy smokers and drinkers, for example, tend to enter menopause earlier than women who aren’t, and these substances can exacerbate the symptoms of menopause like hot flashes, sleep problems, and low energy levels. Quitting or at least limiting your intake can help to make menopause easier to manage. Diets lacking in certain nutrients can also contribute to early menopause, so ensuring that you’re eating well-rounded meals on a regular basis can be helpful. Other contributing factors are more difficult to control, but identifying them can help you to prepare yourself for menopause better, like certain chromosomal conditions or autoimmune diseases. Your doctor can tell you if you might be at risk for these issues.
Understanding human genetics is something that scientists around the world are working tirelessly on every day, but we do know this– looking to your family members for guidance when it comes to your health can be a very good thing, even when the familial ties of things like menopause aren’t fully understood. If you want to learn more about menopause and women’s hormones, Renewed Vitality can help you! Keep reading our blog here for more information.
While not a universal symptom, hot flashes are incredibly common for women to experience during menopause, and any woman who’s ever been through one will tell you that it’s no fun. Hot flashes can be uncomfortable and embarrassing, and you can end up moving through each day dreading the possibility of one occurring.
For many women, summer becomes a particularly stressful time of the year just due to their hot flashes. However, this pesky side effect doesn’t have to keep you from enjoying your favorite outdoor activities from now until fall! There are plenty of ways to minimize and manage your hot flashes to help you stay comfortable and enjoy yourself throughout the day. Here are a few of them.
Choose the Right Clothes
As a hot flash sufferer, you’ve probably been told a million times that choosing light, airy layers is the key to dealing with hot flashes, and that advice is absolutely true. However, you might not know that the type of fabric you’re choosing is just as important as the clothes themselves! During the summer months, it’s especially important to pay attention to the fiber content of your clothes, as some fabrics will wick away sweat and promote air circulation far better than others.
Polyester is the thing you’ll want to avoid above all, as each thread in a piece of polyester fabric is actually plastic, and will keep you hot and sweaty all day. Wool and silk are also fibers to avoid during the summer, as they breathe better but trap and hold heat against your body. Cotton and linen are light, breathable, and sweat-wicking, making them ideal choices for your summer wardrobe! Reach for these fabrics when you’re getting dressed, and don’t be afraid to throw on a loose, long-sleeved shirt over a tank top or a long, flowy skirt or pair of trousers. It may sound counterintuitive, but keeping the sun off your skin can actually help you to stay a little cooler if you’re choosing your fabrics right.
Avoid Triggers
Most women have their own set of triggers that can send them spiraling into a hot flash, and learning what your own triggers are and avoiding them can help you prevent a hot flash from starting in the first place! Warm rooms and spicy foods are common ones, and alcohol or caffeine can also leave you sweating.
If you’re a cigarette smoker or tobacco user, you might also find that these substances can trigger your hot flashes as well. Cutting back or quitting your nicotine habit can be transformative to your health, so ask your doctor for recommendations to help you quit if you can!
Keep Hydrated
Getting your recommended intake of water every day might seem like another obvious piece of advice, but you’d be surprised how many people today are chronically dehydrated, and the serious impacts that dehydration can have on your overall health and wellbeing. If you’re suffering from hot flashes on a regular basis, you need to be drinking even more water than the average person, as sweating saps water out of your system that needs to be replaced!
Grab that big water bottle or travel cup out of the back of your cabinet and sip on it during the day, making sure that you’re refilling it multiple times. You might be shocked at how much better you feel at the end of a week!
Lower Your Stress
It’s a cold truth that stress and anxiety, however unavoidable they may seem in today’s world, can have serious negative effects on your health, and your hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms are one place where you might notice these impacts. Stress and anxiety can often trigger hot flashes, not to mention that they can sap your energy and make it harder for you to deal with hot flashes when they do arise.
Try to look at places in your life where you might be able to reduce your sources of stress, and work on building your resilience and coping skills through practices like journaling, mindfulness, meditation, and yoga. Helping your hot flashes is just one of the ways that you can greatly improve your life by reducing stress!
If methods like these are still not helping you to manage debilitating hot flashes, hormone replacement therapy might be an option that can give you some relief. To learn more about this treatment, contact Renewed Vitality today!
Menopause is defined as the time in a woman’s life after her period has permanently stopped, but it affects so much more than just the reproductive system! As any woman who’s been there can tell you firsthand, the hormonal changes that menopause brings on can have effects on just about everything in your body, from your skin to your energy levels, and your eyes are no exception.
Most people expect to see changes in their eyesight as they age, but there are some links between the changing hormone levels of menopause in women and altered eyesight. This is one of the lesser known symptoms of menopause, and it can come as a bit of a shock to women who aren’t expecting it, but knowing that it’s coming can prepare you to deal with this change along with many others that you’ll experience as you age!
How Does Menopause Affect My Eyes?
The hormones most associated with menopause and the menstrual cycle (estrogen, progesterone, and other sex hormones) do much more in the body than just manage reproduction. These chemical messengers do jobs all over the human body, and when their levels change, so does everything else. Scientists are still working to figure out exactly how hormones like estrogen and progesterone affect the eyes, but it’s clear that there is a link, and many women experience similar problems with their eyes once they enter menopause.
What Changes to My Eyes Can I Expect During Menopause?
Dry eye is the most common eye-related issue for menopausal women, but it’s also common for them to experience blurred vision, glaucoma, the formation of cataracts, and signs of macular degeneration like blind spots and poor depth perception.
How Can I Protect My Eyes During Menopause?
Most people are a little nervous about losing their eyesight as they age. While it is a natural part of getting older that, to a certain extent, can’t be stopped, there are things you can do to help protect your eyesight as much as possible and optimize the health of your eyes!
The most important thing you can do by far is to make regular visits to your eye doctor and follow their instructions and treatment recommendations. Part of why this is so important is disease monitoring. Cataracts, for example, are painless and slow to form, so you might not realize that you have them until they’re already impeding your vision. Glaucoma is another disease with a slow onset that you might not notice yourself until it’s already affecting your eyesight. Seeing your eye doctor at least once a year can ensure that you get an early warning that you’re developing these conditions, and your ophthalmologist can monitor their progress and recommend medications, lifestyle changes, and procedures to slow or reverse them as much as possible.
It’s also important to regularly visit your eye doctor to keep the prescription of your glasses or contact lenses up to date. Straining your eyes is something that you definitely don’t want to do as you age– not only can it lead to headaches and eye fatigue, but it can also cause your vision to continue to deteriorate. Making sure your glasses are at the right prescription so that you can see clearly can protect your eyes in the long run! You should also avoid other activities that strain your eyes, like reading or doing activities like knitting or painting in poor light, swimming in chlorinated water without goggles, and staring at screens for too long without proper breaks to rest your eyes. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle can also help your eye health, so make sure you get your vitamins and minerals either through your diet or a multivitamin, get plenty of exercise for good blood circulation, and work with your doctor to quit smoking or nicotine use if you can.
Another thing you can do to help your eyes, and to work against the other unpleasant symptoms of menopause, is to consider hormone replacement therapy! Adding some of your lost hormones back into your body’s system can help to reduce symptoms like dry eye, lowered libido, low bone density, and much more. Renewed Vitality can help provide you with more information about this treatment option, so contact us today!
The symptoms of menopause are a source of dread for almost every woman as she begins to approach middle age. Hot flashes, night sweats, body changes, thin skin, vaginal dryness– the parade of unpleasantness can seem almost endless. Some level of these symptoms, unfortunately, can’t be avoided, just like some level of PMS symptoms can’t be avoided. However, you’re not completely powerless! There are some things that you can do, even before you enter menopause, to prevent your symptoms from being severe.
Quit Smoking
As if you needed another reason to quit smoking, here comes a big one– smoking can be a contributor to your menopausal symptoms. Engaging in this unhealthy habit can not only make your menopausal symptoms more severe, particularly hot flashes, night sweats, and trouble sleeping, but there’s some evidence that women who smoke can actually begin experiencing symptoms of menopause sooner than those who don’t. The ill effects of smoking on your health and your reproductive system can linger long after quitting, so this isn’t something you want to put off. Start working with your doctor on methods to help you quit now, so that you can reap as many of the benefits of non-smoking years as possible!
Reduce Alcohol Intake
Alcohol is another substance that has been shown to worsen the symptoms of menopause. Especially as you age, consuming a lot of alcohol does nothing good for your health, and menopause is one of the many things it affects, with women who are heavy drinkers reporting more hot flashes and more night sweats. Working to reduce your alcohol intake can help to greatly reduce the severity of these symptoms! You don’t have to completely give up the occasional cocktail or glass of wine, but try to be mindful of your drinking and focus on moderation.
Improve Your Diet
Trying to build a healthy diet and good habits around food and eating can also be wise for women who are in or about to enter menopause. Highly processed foods with lots of sugar and salt and excess intake of caffeine are likely to have a worsening effect on your symptoms. Meanwhile, incorporating lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, proteins, and healthy fats like omega-3s can make a big difference in how you feel! It’s also important to get some dairy in your diet if you can tolerate milk. Low bone density is a common problem for menopausal women, and milk, yogurt, and cheese can help to counteract this issue with their high levels of calcium and other essential vitamins and minerals.
Exercise Regularly
Exercise is also a crucial part of keeping serious menopause symptoms at bay. Many women deal with weight gain, decreased muscle density, higher fat levels, and weaker bones during menopause, and regular exercise can help to improve all of these symptoms. Exercise also increases your energy, helps you to sleep better, and boosts your mood– all important things when you’re dealing with the stress of menopause!
Consider HRT
If you’re dealing with symptoms of menopause and you’re finding that healthy lifestyle changes aren’t bringing you the relief you need, hormone replacement therapy might be the option you need to start feeling better again!
