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The Best Diet Aid for Post-Menopausal Women

For post-menopausal women, as with anyone at any age, the best diet aid is knowledge. As a woman who has gone through menopause, you need to know about your body and its special needs, and you need to keep in mind portion control, calories and guidelines for healthy eating.

  1. New Dietary Needs

    • If you are a post-menopausal woman, you need more calcium in your diet to prevent bone loss and osteoporosis. You also need vitamin D because it helps your body metabolize calcium. Seek out foods that contain calcium and Vitamin D, such as dairy products, if they are not already in your diet, and consider supplements to make sure you're getting enough. Sunlight is also a good source of vitamin D, providing you another reason to spend time outside. You also may be finding that you need to cut back on calories and increase your activity because the same diet and lifestyle that maintained a healthy weight when you were younger could now be causing you to gain weight. Consult a nutritionist to find out the ideal daily calorie intake for your body mass, whether you need to lose weight or just maintain your current weight.

    Learn About Portion Control and Calories

    • A key component of any kind of diet is to understand portions. A dietary portion is not always what is served to you in a restaurant or even what is contained in a supposedly single-portion convenience meal. Read food labels. Prepared food will list the number of portions it contains on the nutrition label; look for where it says "serving size" and "number of servings per container." If there are four servings in that container, don't eat it all at one meal, even if that may be what the marketing part of the packaging suggests. The label will also tell you the number of "calories per serving." For foods without labels, there are books and websites that list calories for foods such as meats, vegetables and fruits, or restaurant foods. The best way to understand whether you might need to cut back on calories is to calculate the number of calories in all of the food you eat and compare it to your ideal daily calorie intake.

    Strive for Healthy Eating

    • Look for ways to add more fruits and vegetables to your diet. Vegetables, especially, are good choices for post-menopausal women because they typically have a lower sugar content than fruit does. Try for a total of five servings of vegetables and fruits every day. Opt for whole grain alternatives to white bread and regular pasta and rice. These have more fiber and nutrients in them than their refined alternatives.

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