It’s a problem as old as hormones themselves. When most women pass through menopause, their hormones change dramatically but their eating habits and activity levels don’t. And that leads to unwanted weight gain or trouble keeping excess weight off. Now, science may have a solution…
The basics of the Paleo Diet… Lean Proteins, Fresh Fruit and Veggies, Seeds and Nuts…
A PhD student at Umeå University in Sweden has discovered that women who experience extreme weight gain post meno-pause can control heir weight or even lose the excess by following the so-called Paleo Diet. And losing the excess weight and keeping it off can reduce the risk of contracting heart disease and Type 2 Diabetes.
Caroline Blomquist, a doctoral student at the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine at Umeå University, spent two years following a group of 70 postmenopausal women with a body mass index exceeding 27 – that is, overweight women after menopause. Half of the women consumed a diet according to Nordic Nutrition Recommendations while the other half followed a Paleolithic diet. Neither groups had any specific restrictions in the amount they were allowed to consume, the restrictions solely revolved around the composition of the diet. The follow ups took place after six months and again after two years.
“The results are remarkable,” Blomquist reports. “Despite giving the women free reigns to an unlimited intake, the weight loss was stable after two years. A more significant fact than weight loss was the evident improvement in levels of fat in the blood, and signs of reduced inflammation.”
Refresh me on the Paleo Diet…
The Paleolithic diet is characterized by a high intake of protein and unsaturated fats and has a low glycemic index. The diet consists mainly of Vegetables, lean Meats, Fish, Poultry, Eggs, Shellfish, Seeds, Nuts, Oils and Fruit. The biggest difference between the Paleo Diet and the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations is that the Paleolithic diet excludes Cereals, Milk, refined Sugars and added Salt.
So…
When your estrogen tapers off, your whole system changes. And it appears your diet should, too. But that’s not as easy for some women as it is for others. The Paleo diet includes relatively expensive Proteins, expensive fresh Produce and expensive Seeds, Nuts and Oils. The Paleo diet also extols the consumption of raw foods versus cooked ones. And it absolutely prohibits Added Salt and Sugar. That’s bad news for poor folks – many older folks are on fixed incomes – and those who rely on heavily processed, pre-made, relatively cheap ‘convenience’ foods.
Maybe we should be concentrating more on making healthy foods less expensive and more readily available before we start making high-flown – albeit well-intentioned – dietary recommendations that many who need to can’t afford to follow. On the other hand, we could all probably afford to eat ‘right’ if we ate less, shopped more intelligently and did more of our own food preparation…
~ Maggie J.