Your diet is important at this stage of your life.

Even without the menopause the changes in your body as you age mean that what you eat and how frequently you eat it will change. The better balanced your diet the better your body will work – and that will help with the effects of the menopause. Here are some key elements of a healthy diet

Proteins

Your body needs proteins because it can’t produce all the amino acids it needs by itself.

The only foods which contain all the proteins you need are animal based. Things like meat, fish, eggs and milk.

However plant proteins can be combined to include all of the essential amino acids and form a complete protein. Examples of combined, complete plant proteins are rice + beans, milk + wheat cereal, and corn + beans.

There is evidence that animal proteins increase the rate of calcium loss compared to vegetable proteins and thus can worsen conditions such as osteoporosis - so you don’t have to eat meat– but if you don’t you need to get your mix of non meat foods right!

Fibre

All of us should be eating foods rich in starch and fibre (such as rice, pasta, cereals, potatoes, pulses and fruit and veg). They are low in fat and are good sources of a wide range of essential nutrients as well as keeping the digestive system working smoothly.

Iron rich foods

Iron is important for your body as it is one of the key elements in your blood.

Whilst the best source of iron is, surprise, surprise, red meat you don’t want to eat too much of this. So good alternatives are pulses, oily fish, eggs, bread and green vegetables.

Vitamin C

Everyone knows that vitamin C is good for you, but your body isn’t very good at storing it as it is water soluble.

So, you need to consume regular portions of citrus fruit, fruit juice, green vegetables and things like peppers and potatoes.

Calcium rich foods

Loss of bone density (osteoporosis) is a major problem for women around the time of the menopause. It’s caused by your body using the material from your bones to “top up” shortages of chemicals it needs elsewhere and a reduction in its ability to make new bone.

Calcium rich foods, such as dairy products, broccoli and cabbage and tinned sardines all help to keep the calcium levels in your body up and may reduce bone loss.

You should try to use low fat versions of dairy products to maintain a low fat intake

Phytoestrogens

Phytoestrogens help the body boost its production of oestrogen and so can, to some extent, counteract the lowered oestrogen levels of the menopause.

This can help counter some of the effects such as hot flushes and vaginal dryness, as well as helping to reduce bone loss. In addition they are said to protect against heart disease and some cancers.

The biggest and best of foods containing phytoestrogens is Soya but they are also present in foods such as lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans, rice, oats, wheat, broccoli, carrots and potatoes – to name but a few!

When I first started on the menopause I found that I wanted to learn how I could take control of this stage of my life. Like many women I didn’t think I wanted to take HRT (and the jury’s still out on that one), but didn’t know the alternatives. However I was totally unaware of how uncomfortable and sometimes distressing the symptoms of the menopause could be.

I’ve struggled with this – not wanting to get involved with medication for what is, in the end, a natural process but, on the other hand, wanting to have the benefits that HRT offers. As a result I’ve tried HRT, come off it and gone back onto it. Neither state has proved an ideal solution.

In the end the choice of whether to take HRT is individual to each and every woman going through the menopause.

What we’ve tried to do here is give a simple synopsis of the way HRT works and the pros and cons.

We’ve also added in some links to other sites that go into this in more detail (and with more authority) than we can.

It’s a popular discussion point! Husbands and partners frequently look for sympathy because of “the male menopause” that they are allegedly going through.

Now correct us if you think we’re wrong but, as far as we are aware men don’t ovulate or menstruate and, generally speaking, seem to be able to father children to a ripe old age.

You’ve only got to think about the likes of John Humphreys or John Simpson who fathered children when in their 60’s, Rupert Murdoch or Des O’Connor in their 70’s and Julio Iglesias Snr at 89 to realise that men seem to keep going a lot longer than you’d want to believe possible.

So we decided to do a bit of research into the subject.

The first thing is, of course, that men really can’t have a Menopause because, by definition, it’s to do with ceasing to ovulate.

Apparently the correct term is the Andropause and it relates to a gradual reduction in the levels of Androgens in the male body – which effectively seems to mean a reduction in Testosterone levels.

The fact that these changes take place very gradually and don’t have a clear beginning and end in the same way as the female menopause makes it rather difficult to spot the moment when a man can truly say he’s “Andropausal”.

It’s hard to imagine its an expression often heard in discussions in the public bar of the “Dog and Trumpet”.

In addition this all occurs at about the time when men are traditionally going through that critical moment in their lives when their hair starts to fall out big time, they can’t fit in tight jeans anymore and young women in the street start to refer to them as “Dad”.

So its quite difficult to tell what’s Andropause and what’s just the inevitable recognition of the aging process.

However, the symptoms of low testosterone would strike a cord with any one going through the menopause. These are:

• Low sex drive
• Emotional, psychological and behavioural changes
• Decreased muscle mass
• Loss of muscle strength
• Increased upper and central body fat
• Osteoporosis or weak bones and back pain
• Cardiovascular risk

So perhaps we should have some sympathy for our male partners and friends when they try to tell us that it’s just as bad for them. But not too much!
The other lesson to take from this is that it’s all too easy to put all the aches and pains and ailments women get at this time of life down to the Menopause.

It’s important to recognise that some of it is just the normal wear and tear on our bodies and reflects our stage in life. These things are just as real as the menopause but happen to men and women alike.

So whether it is the Andropause, or just collateral damage he’s suffering from - show some sympathy!

During the menopause your ovaries stop producing as much oestrogen as they used to and this is what leads to the symptoms you experience.

HRT contains a natural, low dose, oestrogen which effectively replaces the oestrogen your body is no longer making and, as a result the symptoms diminish.

It is normally taken as a daily tablet although it can be applied as a gel, patch, vaginal tablet, pessary, ring or implant.

In addition, for those of us who haven’t had a hysterectomy, progestogen is added which reduces the risk of oestrogen causing the lining of the womb to thicken and reduces the risk of cancer of the womb.

The pros of taking HRT are fairly clear

• A significant reduction in menopausal symptoms (perhaps 70%)
• A reduced risk of osteoporosis (thinning of the bones)

By themselves these would make the taking of HRT pretty much a “no brainer”. However there are some fairly significant cons

• A general aversion to “taking medicines unnecessarily” – this is one of my biggest issues. I don’t believe in taking medicines if it can be avoided, particularly where this is over a lengthy period. So if your symptoms aren’t that severe and can be alleviated by some other method I’d rather go down that route
• Breast Cancer – there has been a lot of publicity about this. It appears that the risk is higher if you are taking the version of HRT containing progestogen, which is recommended if you have your womb to reduce the risk of cancer of the womb.
  In any event the risks are believed to be relatively small unless HRT is continued for more than 5 years after the age of 50
• Cancer of the Womb – oestrogen only HRT is said to increase the chances of this type of cancer – but the version with progestogen apparently eliminates this risk.
• Blood Clots – there is a slight increased risk of blood clots
• Heart Disease / Strokes – it was thought that HRT actually reduced the possibility of heart disease, however it would appear that current thinking is that there is a slightly increased risk, although this is said to be very dependant on a wide range of other age and health factors