When it comes to preventing insulin resistance, it is recommended eating healthily, exercising, and managing your weight—however, new research proposes another factor that’s especially important for older women.
Researchers state that sleep’s impact on insulin sensitivity was significant among the whole group but even more so for postmenopausal women.
Now that I am reaching the stage of PERI-MENOPAUSE, I can sympathise a little more with what this is all about.
I am a firm believer of the power of healing your own body, and only utilise Western Medicine when needed. Personally, I am not intending to use hormone replacement but rather focus what is available without putting toxins in my body that I can possibly avoid. But everyone needs to decide what is best for their body and I would never judge anyone to make a different decision. I am here to help you navigate this time to your best of your abilities.
There are a few things that I want to point out that I find absolutely crucial when navigating through this somewhat challenging time.
1. SLEEP (make sleep a priority) Yes, there are parties and some of you might suffer from FOMO but I’m telling you now that you much rather want to miss out on some of the parties or don’t make them a sleepless night because the body will really make you pay for it!!
2. STRESS is one of the biggest factors in this society that leads to all sorts of diseases. It can lead to obesity, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and a more severe case of menopause. I have experienced this in my family circle and it’s not fun. Find ways to get support, set boundaries and make sure you always fill your own cup up first before you serve others!
3. NUTRITION is another big factor that really helps to keep your body feel good and in shape. With age and with the onset of menopause, the hormones in your body change and it can be really challenging to keep your gut happy. I am supporting my body with good quality food and supplements to enhance the benefits of overall health. Having a happy and healthy gut is definitely very, very important. I am still currently exploring more ways to support women in regards to nutrition. I would highly recommend to work with a Naturopath for more help and support.
4. EXERCISE has so many benefits… It can be a great stress relief after a long day of work. Moving your body can really do wonders. Muscle decline starts in your 30’s so your aim should be to continuously build muscle to avoid having fat take over your body. I’m sorry to be so blunt about this but it’s a fact. I highly recommend to keep a good balance between HIIT training to increase your heart rate, strength training to build or maintain muscle and stretching and meditation. You might also need to experiment with food as the gut microbiome changes in your body. Decreasing amounts of estranged and progesterone can slow down process of passing food through the GI system. The stress hormone cortisol can slow digestion and lead to constipation. Make sure you find balance between food that is acidic and food that is alkaline.
