During menopause, many women suffer from hot flashes. Intense feelings of heat can disrupt daily routines and cause discomfort. While there is no cure for hot flashes, certain foods may help alleviate symptoms and make them more manageable.
In this article, I’ll explore 9 foods that fight hot flashes and provide relief. From soy products to flaxseeds and leafy greens, incorporating these foods into your diet may help reduce the frequency and intensity of hot flashes.
What Is Hot Flash?
One of the most common signs of menopause is having hot flashes. In fact, more than 80% of women who are going through menopause have hot flashes, most often when the change starts.
Women who are going through menopause have hot flashes because their estrogen levels are dropping. Because it works with testosterone, estrogen changes many things in the brain. Together, they help control the hypothalamus, a part of the brain that controls body temperature.
Because of a mismatch in hormones, when estrogen levels drop, the hypothalamus believes the body is warmer than it really is. In response, the hypothalamus makes you sweat, speeds up your heart rate, and opens up blood vessels close to the skin’s surface to cool you down.
Most of the time, the quick heat starts in the face or chest and can spread to the whole body. A single episode can last anywhere from 30 seconds to an hour. Most of the time, hot flashes start quickly and stop just as quickly. People usually call hot flashes that happen at night “night sweats.”
Anyone going through menopause can have hot flashes, but some things can make them more or less likely or make them worse, such as:
- Older age (usually beginning in the 40s or 50s)
- Being overweight
- Smoking cigarettes (now or in the past)
- Present depression
- The use of oral contraceptives in the past
What Does A Hot Flash Feel Like?
Hot flashes generally feel like a short feeling of heat all over your body, though they can be a little different for each person. You might flush and start to sweat when you have a hot flash. You might feel cold after the heat.
Not only do people have different hot flashes, but they can also last for different lengths of time and be milder or stronger. Something that might be a short-term bother for one person could be very hot for someone else.
Is There Any Food That Can Fight With Hot Flash?
Yes. Changes in food can help with hot flashes a lot more than scientists thought. The study is called the WAVS trial, which stands for the Women’s Study for the Alleviation of Vasomotor Symptoms. Night sweats, hot flashes, and flushes are all examples of vasomotor signs. According to the study, the group that got a soy-rich diet, as well as a low-fat vegan diet, experienced a 79%reduction in total hot flashes and an 84 % reduction in moderate to severe hot flashes. Only 49% and 42% of those in the control group experienced declines. Furthermore, 59% of participants in the soy group claimed that they no longer had moderate or severe hot flushes.
9 Foods That Fight Hot Flash
Hot flashes can be a challenging and uncomfortable symptom for many women going through menopause. Fortunately, several foods can help alleviate these symptoms and provide relief.
1.PhytoestrogensÂ
Phytoestrogens are chemicals found in plants that act like estrogen in some ways. They might help make up for the hormone levels that drop during menopause.
It was found that women who took phytoestrogen vitamins had a lot fewer hot flashes than women who didn’t take them.
2. A Plant-Based Diet
A small study that looked at the effects of a low-fat, plant-based diet found that eating more plants could help with hot flashes. All of the women in the study had hot flashes at least twice a day and had gone through menopause.
One group switched to a plant-based diet, including half a cup of cooked soybeans per day, while the other stayed on their regular diets. After 12 weeks, the plant-based group had significantly fewer hot flashes than the control group, with most reporting less severe symptoms.
3. The Mediterranean Diet
A lot of nuts, fruits, veggies, legumes (like chickpeas and lentils), and healthy oils (like olive oil) are part of the Mediterranean diet. There was a big study that looked at what 6,000 women ate.
It looked at six different ways of eating. It found that women who followed a Mediterranean diet or ate a lot of food were much less likely to have hot flashes and night sweats than women who followed the other diets.
4. Cold Water
If you are highly susceptible to hot flashes, the National Institute on Aging recommends drinking small amounts of cool water before bed. The group also recommends decreasing the temperature in your bedroom and layering your sheets to make them easier to remove if you do get night sweats.
5. Vitamin E Rich Food
In a study where the effect of vitamin E on menopausal women was examined, results showed that it substantially lowered the intensity of hot flashes. Vitamin E also aids in minimizing the likelihood of weight gain, depression, and heart disease during per menopause and menopause.
To fight hot flashes and associated menopause symptoms, physicians recommend eating 15 mg of vitamin E each day. While supplements are the easiest way to ensure you are getting a proper quantity, vitamin E is also rich in foods, including avocado, broccoli, shrimp, spinach, squash, and sunflower seeds.
6.Magnesium Rich Food
Researchers looked into whether magnesium tablets could help breast cancer patients with menopausal hot flashes. The women who took part in the study said that their hot flashes happened 50–25% less often and were less intense.
The study was mostly about breast cancer patients. Still, doctors found that their hot flashes were like those women have during menopause because their estrogen levels dropped at about the same rate.
Besides easing hot flashes, magnesium is thought to lower the risk of osteoporosis during menopause, help with joint pain, improve heart health, lower the risk of diabetes, lower blood pressure, and make it easier to go to the bathroom.
If eaten every day, foods that are high in magnesium can also provide enough. Beans, dark chocolate, lentils, and whole grain foods are some of these foods. So are leafy greens like kale, spinach, and lettuce. Another option is to take magnesium as a supplement. The daily suggested amount is no more than 350 mg.
7.Vitamin C & Bioflavonoids
Experts in women’s health say that taking vitamin C and bioflavonoids together every day can help a lot with the hot flashes that come with menopause and per menopause.
Lime, lemon, and orange are all citrus fruits that contain bioflavonoids and vitamin C. The white core and pulp of these fruits are especially high in bioflavonoids. Fruits like cherries, grapes, and pomegranates also have a mix of the two.
8.Nuts
It can also help to snack on nuts like almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts or add them to recipes and soups. This can make the hot flashes that come with menopause less severe.
Both almonds and walnuts have a lot of vitamin E. All three are also very high in calcium, magnesium, polyunsaturated fats, potassium, and zinc, all of which help with menopause symptoms like dry skin, dysmenorrhea, and osteoporosis.
9.Seeds And Vegetables
Seeds containing phytoestrogens, such as pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds, are ideal for snacking throughout the day to combat hot flashes during menopause.
Snacking on raw veggies such as carrots, celery, green beans, and sprouts will also aid in lessening hot flashes while also providing the body with essential nutrients for women’s general health.
Foods To Avoid During Suffer In Hot Flash
It is recommended to avoid certain foods that can trigger or worsen hot flashes.
Processed Sugar Foods
When you eat too much sugar or foods that turn into sugar, your blood sugar goes up and down quickly. As per a study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, having a hot flash can happen when your blood sugar level drops.
Carbohydrates most likely cause that spike and drop. A good rule of thumb is that your body turns grains into sugar faster when they are made in a factory. A fast influx of sugar causes blood sugar to rise quickly and then drop sharply.
Caffeinated Beverages
A study found that drinking caffeine is linked to having more unpleasant hot flashes. Caffeine in coffee can also speed up your heart rate and make you thirsty, which may make those feelings worse. If you really want decaf, you can have it. Green tea, in moderation, can help you stay away from caffeine withdrawal.
Alcohol
A glass of wine now and then will have little effect on your symptoms. However, if you consume more than one drink per day, you may begin to feel the heat. One study found that drinking alcohol made hot flashes worse (more intense) in menopausal women. Reduce your alcohol consumption to one or fewer drinks per day.
Spicy Foods
Some evidence suggests that spicy foods can aggravate or increase the frequency of hot flashes. However, research is sparse. If you routinely consume hot foods and experience hot flashes, experiment with milder spices and chilies to see if they alleviate your symptoms.
Final Words
By incorporating these nine foods into your diet, you can effectively combat hot flashes and experience relief from this uncomfortable symptom of menopause.
From soy-based products to flaxseeds and leafy greens, there are plenty of options to choose from that can help regulate your body’s temperature and reduce the frequency and intensity of hot flashes.
It’s important to remember that everyone’s body is different, so it may take some trial and error to find the foods that work best for you. By embracing these natural remedies and making healthier choices, you can find relief from hot flashes and improve your overall well-being.
FAQ
Does Vitamin D Reduce Hot Flashes?
Yes. It keeps serotonin levels from dropping, which is a chemical that helps keep your body temperature steady. In other words, vitamin D can help with hot flashes and night sweats. Besides this, serotonin is important for motivation and better happiness.
At What Age Do Hot Flashes Stop?
It is fairly rare for women to have hot flashes again more than ten years after menopause, even into their 70s or beyond. There is no way to foresee when they will begin or end.
