Foods That May Help Battle Brain Fog and Memory Issues During Menopause
Menopause is defined as the 12 months following a woman’s last menstrual cycle. This three-phase period of time (perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause) in a woman’s life signals the end of her reproductive years.
Early symptoms of menopause include vasomotor symptoms (i.e., “hot flashes,”) night sweats, irregular periods, difficulty sleeping, trouble focusing, memory issues, tender breasts, vaginal dryness, dry skin, mood swings, and more frequent urges to urinate.
Later symptoms of menopause include headache, joint pain, depression, changes in hair growth (more on face, less on head), irritability, tiredness, weight gain, and changes in libido.
The cognition issues associated with menopause that many women experience (i.e., difficulty concentrating and remembering things, reduced fine motor speed, etc.) may be connected with both hot flashes and changes in sleep quality and quantity. However, certain lifestyle changes can help improve the frequency of severity of hot flashes and improve sleep which may, in turn, help improve cognitive health during menopause and battle brain fog.
Dietary approaches to managing hot flashes include avoiding caffeine, alcohol and spicy foods, and building more plant phytoestrogens into the diet.
Phytoestrogens are compounds found in some plant foods that can help support healthy brain aging in women. These compounds have a chemical structure similar to that of human estrogen and can bind to human estrogen receptors, but with much weaker and often beneficial effects.
According to the Journal of Menopausal Medicine, additional dietary approaches to optimize brain function and prevent cognitive impairment during menopause include following a healthy diet that is high in fiber, low in saturated fat, sodium, and sweets, and not too high in overall calories. It also recommends that women eat a variety of fruits and vegetables each day. Fruits and vegetables contain a wide variety of antioxidants which help prevent free radical damage that can accelerate brain aging. Lastly, including an adequate amount of omega-3 fatty acids (particularly DHA) in the diet is recommended as well, and this can be achieved by eating fatty fish three times per week, or taking about 180mg per day of supplemental DHA.
Several clinical trials have also shown a slight reduction in menopausal symptoms (including hot flashes) when black cohosh is taken as a dietary supplement. The most consistent evidence is for 40–127 mg of Remifemin taken for up to 12 weeks.
Before starting a new supplement, it’s important to always speak to your doctor or registered dietitian who will consider your full medical history and risk factors and make individualized recommendations that are right for you.
Which foods should women prioritize in their diets as a way to reduce the frequency and severity of hot flashes and battle cognitive decline during menopause? Here is a list:
- Foods rich in phytoestrogens, including soy foods (edamame, tofu, tempeh, edamame) chickpeas and lentils (all three of which are thought to offer the most potent plant phytoestrogens) as well as ground flaxseeds and beans
- Whole grains including amaranth, oats, buckwheat, spelt and farro
- Fruits including cantaloupe, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, cherries, pineapple, avocados, tomatoes and citrus fruits
- Vegetables including broccoli, bell peppers, pumpkin, asparagus, kale, spinach, green beans and eggplant
- Fatty fish including salmon, sardines, arctic char and steelhead trout
- Nuts and seeds including chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, walnuts, pecans, cashews and hazelnuts
The catalog of recipes at Rejuvenan includes hundreds of nutrient-dense options that make it easy and delicious to build these foods into the daily diet and follow the dietary recommendations that may help battle brain fog during menopause.
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