Many health issues often blamed on menopause are actually the result of a decline in metabolic health and muscle loss, which can be reversed, a leading Australian nutritionist says. 

 

Nutritionist and author Donna Aston says women have been conditioned to believe pharmaceutical intervention is the only solution for alleviating menopause symptoms when, in fact, they can naturally regain confidence in their body and take charge of their health. 

Aston, pictured above, recently completed a clinical trial with Melbourne’s RMIT University examining how diet and lifestyle intervention is effective in promoting weight loss, reducing visceral fat mass and fostering a healthy gut microbiota composition.

The trial's results will be published later this year. 

She has also just partnered with Fernwood Fitness, a leading women-only health and fitness network which has more than 70 locations across Australia, to combine the power of strength training with evidence-based nutrition.

 

"It’s time we stop accepting debilitating menopausal symptoms as our destiny and start addressing the controllable lifestyle factors that exacerbate these symptoms," Aston said. 

 

“Symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, and mood swings can be severe for many women, but health professionals largely misunderstand the lifestyle factors that influence our hormones.  

 

“Usually, by the time women seek help, their symptoms are intolerable, and the ‘treatment’ will generally involve medication rather than identifying the underlying cause. 

 

“Society has been conditioned to anticipate that pharmaceutical intervention is the only option, with doctors prescribing hormones, antidepressants, anti-inflammatories and painkillers and, in many cases, weight loss drugs - rather than identifying the root cause.” 

 

The good news is that symptoms can be alleviated by conscious eating, moderating alcohol intake and doing resistance training to combat muscle and bone loss — as this loss negatively impacts metabolic rate, blood glucose regulation and can lead to an increase in visceral belly fat. 

 

And by incorporating these changes as young as 25, women can easily help prevent an unexpected decline in their health later in life. 

 

Aston said a recent call by Australian unions for women who have menopause and perimenopause to be given 10 days of paid well-being leave showed how much menopause was misunderstood. 

 

“Giving women 10 days off to suffer with their symptoms is ineffective. We should be empowering women with information and skills to better manage their health, which would help alleviate symptoms,” she said. 

 

Many people were unaware of the silent epidemic of muscle wasting, called sarcopenia, which can contribute to many menopausal symptoms. 

 

"We lose around one per cent of our lean muscle tissue each year after the age of 35, which further accelerates as our hormone levels start to decline through perimenopause, menopause and beyond,” Aston said. 

 

“This loss of muscle negatively impacts our metabolic rate, blood glucose regulation, bone density, joint health, inflammation and contributes significantly to visceral fat gain, negative changing to our body composition (abdominal fat deposition) and makes it difficult to lose weight. 

 

"Gains in muscle mass of 5-10% and improvements in muscle strength of 30-150% have been observed after just 12 weeks of resistance training, even in the elderly.  

 

“We’ve been taught to eat and exercise to be ‘light’ rather than ‘strong’, which is why most women do passive, light exercise and cardio instead of the more effective strength training they need to maintain ‘normal’ muscle,” Aston said.