Early menopause systems can change your life for the worst. From irregular bleeding to sweats, hot flashes, urinary problems, sleep disturbance and mood changes… your entire routine can become a mess. One upside to this, you are glad that Aunt Flow is flowing away for good. On the other hand, you are fed up of experiencing random hot flashes every day, anywhere you are.
These symptoms are quite small compared to osteoporosis. As you age, your diet gets smaller and smaller. Chances are you are not getting the right amount of nutrients that you need to keep your body healthy. At a time like this, the two main nutrients that you often fail to provide your body with are Vitamin D and calcium. When it comes to Vitamin D, the intake should be slightly increased as it is not only used by the body but it also works as a helping hand in absorbing calcium.
Vitamin D and Menopause
Here’s how your body behaves when it doesn’t get an adequate amount of Vitamin D:
- Fatigue
- Low immunity
- Frequently occurring infections (flu and cold)
- Depression
- Mood swings
- Weight gain
- Sleep problems
- Impaired cognitive function
Calcium and Menopause
When the body doesn’t receive enough amount of calcium, there are many parts of the body that get affected. These include:
- Weak nervous system
- Slow muscle contraction
- Irregular heart beat
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Mood swings
- Depression
- Osteoporosis
- Low level of estrogen
The Connection between Vitamin D and Calcium
While sunlight is the best and sure way to receive Vitamin D, it has quite a few disadvantages such as the risk of getting skin cancer. When a woman goes through menopause, the first visible sign is aging of the skin. This makes it difficult for your skin alone to provide you with the Vitamin D your body badly needs. There’s also this whole trouble of dealing with sunscreen, so this method is not a great one.
Let’s come to the most obvious way: food. However, you need to be very carefully because postmenopausal individuals experience slow digestion, which makes it difficult for them again to get enough Vitamin from the food that they eat. The best way to get both Vitamin D and calcium are dairy products.
According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, research was conducted using large population of women as their population sample. The frequency of Vitamin D and calcium intake was measured for 4 years. The results revealed that women who took both minerals in adequate amount and in the form of dairy products were at a lower risk, 17% to be exact, of early menopause.
Product Sources of Vitamin D
- Fatty fish
- Orange juice
- Egg yolks cheese
- Salmon
- Tuna
- Oysters
- Egg yolks
- Mushroom
Dairy Product Sources of Calcium
- Low-fat yogurt
- Whole milk
- Ricotta
- Cheddar cheese
- Swiss cheese
- American cheese
Try including these food items in your daily diet to get the Vitamin D and calcium your body needs. Women in their late 30’s can also sometime suffer from early on-set menopause, so better start changing your diet now.
