What is Menopause?
Aptly named, menopause is when your menses (your menstrual cycle) stops.
What Does Post-Menopausal Mean?
Once it has been stopped for over a year you are then post-menopausal.
What is Peri-Menopause?
Before your menses stops completely (menopause) there is a period of fluctuating hormones that lasts around 4 years, and this is classified as peri-menopause. During peri-menopause, when hormones are fluctuating, we become more insulin resistant. When our bodies become insulin resistant it becomes much easier to gain weight, and cravings for sugary or fast snacks goes up as your body tries to do everything it can to manage your blood sugar.
It’s like you’re working against your hormones to lose weight, or affect your metabolism.
It is really difficult to break this insulin resistance when you are peri-menopausal, and in this regard trying to do full-blown ketosis can be very difficult to do.
Menopause and the Keto Diet
What’s better when you’re peri-menopausal is to make some of the shifts towards Keto, and pay close attention to your body to make sure it’s doing well with them. The last thing you want to do is trigger a starvation state that will make things even worse.
Fortunately, many of the changes that keto involves — eating less grain, eating more healthy fat, cutting out sugar — will ultimately lead to less cravings, better brain function, and a healthier gut. These changes are great goals, and are better targets than trying to go 100% keto.
Once you’ve had no menses for at least one year it becomes much easier to take on the full ketogenic diet, as your hormones are a lot more stable than they have been for the previous 5 years.
