Nutrition for Perimenopause Stress

Stress is high right now, and everyone is feeling it – school shootings, high prices, environmental deregulation, climate crisis, human rights. Each news cycle comes with more.

Because of the hormonal changes in perimenopause, you likely have a lower resilience to stress than you did when you were younger. You can’t handle as much, and it takes a more significant toll on your mental and physical health. Stress also makes perimenopause symptoms worse.

When stress is high, eating nutritious food is often the first habit to slide. If we’re overwhelmed, we might not plan meals, instead relying on convenience items or eating out. For some, stress triggers overeating, and others might unintentionally skip meals. In any case, prioritizing nutrition during high stress eases that stress. You can use nutrition to signal safety to the body.

Let’s talk more about stress and how to use nutrition to help. 

What is Stress?

We often think of stress as emotional, relating to finances, relationships, and work. Emotional stress produces the same effect in the body as a physical threat, like running into a bear on a hike. It’s important to note that imagined stress, such as worrying about the future or reliving a past event, also produces the same stress response in the body.

When your body senses danger, your nervous system shifts into sympathetic, fight-or-flight mode. You mobilize energy (blood sugar rises), blood moves to your extremities, and blood pressure increases. Your body is ready to engage with the threat physically, and afterward, return to a relaxed, baseline state (parasympathetic). This stress chemistry is a short-term, life-saving response.

In our modern world, the stress triggers are almost constant. We don’t discharge the energy and return to a relaxed state before the next stressor takes hold. Chronic stress is a significant health issue for women.

The Effect of Stress on Health

When stress is high, over time, elevated stress hormones affect sex hormones (estrogen and progesterone); the body can’t prioritize reproduction when it’s fighting to survive. And in perimenopause, you want to benefit from your reproductive hormones for as long as possible. Additionally, thyroid function may go down, affecting metabolism.

Chronic stress leads to metabolic changes, weight gain (especially around the midsection), inflammation, poor sleep, and ultimately increases the risk for chronic diseases. After menopause, chronic disease risk also increases due to the loss of protection from estrogen and progesterone; stress compounds these risks.

Physical Stress

As a nutritionist, I often discuss physical stress in addition to emotional stress with clients. The body can interpret physical stress as an unsafe environment and shift metabolism to conserve energy. Most women want to burn through the energy they intake instead of holding on to it.

Some examples of physical stressors are:

·      Under eating

·      Nutrient deficiencies

·      Dehydration

·      Chronic dieting, yo-yo dieting

·      Too much fasting

·      Not enough sleep

·      Very low-carb diets

·      Exposure to pollution and toxins

·      Sedentary behavior

·      Too much exercise

·      Poor posture

·      Multitasking

The good news is that we have a lot of control over these aspects of our lives and can adjust habits to decrease the overall stress burden.

Nutrition for Stress Support

How and what we eat throughout the day can be a powerful tool for signaling safety to the body. When the body feels safe, it can return to the relaxed, parasympathetic state, where healing, hormone balance, and metabolic health thrive.

Instead of viewing food from a restrictive or caloric standpoint, we shift toward using food to nourish the body. Focus on what your body needs to feel its best. Some ways to use food to signal safety include:

·      Eating at regular times throughout the day

·      Choosing meals balanced with colorful veggies, optimal protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs

·      Choosing whole, nutrient-dense foods over ultra-processed options

·      Cooking at home

·      Creating rituals around mealtimes

·      Eating mindfully, without distractions like work or screens

·      Staying well hydrated with water and herbal teas

·      Meeting macro- and micronutrient needs for your body

Establishing a daily rhythm with food helps nourish the body and balance the nervous system, which is even more important in perimenopause and during high-stress periods. 

While many tools, such as meditation and self-care practices, may be necessary to effectively reduce and manage stress, let’s not overlook nutrition as a foundation of health. Give the body what it needs and see how it shifts.