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Going through Menopause?

Make the most of your life with the right diet!

Minimize the hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, insomnia, and weight gain of menopause.

With the right natural supplements and diet program, you can control the symptoms of menopause AND even lose pounds rather than putting them on.  

You can do it with the right attitude, sensible dieting, and our natural supplements including whey powder, Omega 3 laden flax oil and fish oil, ground flax seed, green tea extract and the natural sweetener stevia.

You will be able to manage your hormonal changes naturally.  Soy isoflavones increase bone density.  Gamma linolenic acid (GLA) in evening primrose oil or borage oil, or by itself, combats dry skin due to hormonal changes and eases hot flashes.  Grape seed extract aids hormone production and hormonal balance.   

We’ve used this program, lost weight and continue to keep it off.

We are not selling a fad or a “patented formula”.  We are simply selling the natural supplements that are part of this sensible program.  Follow this program, buy from us (at great prices!), and we will provide you with the ongoing tips, menus, and recipes that can make your menopause trouble free AND healthy.  Just put your email address in the box provided when you order our menopause supplements.

These supplements will protect you from osteoporosis, and reduce your risk of high blood pressure and heart disease, as well as certain types of cancer.

The American diet works to make your menopause worse.

You need to recognize and develop strategies for overcoming the fattening and unhealthy tendencies of the American diet and food supply. 

The American diet is deficient because the U.S. food supply is not focused on health, diet and nutrition.  It is focused on market driven forces like appetites, cravings and taste.

Without taking into account the weight gain that many experience as they go through menopause, close to 40 percent of Americans, according to the Wall Street Journal, are overweight, while less then 25 percent of Europeans (12 percent in Italy, less than 10 percent in France) have weight problems.  The American diet is too high in processed foods that contain high levels of fat, sugar and salt.

How can you expect to have an easy time in menopause with a diet like that?

The Right Attitude To Food Comes First  

To lose weight you have to change your attitudes about food and eating and the consumption behaviors they control.  The right attitude about dieting, and the behavior that follows it, can be your best asset in your efforts to lose weight and keep it off.

1.  Successfully losing weight and keeping it off will happen because of the right decisions you make every day for the rest of your life and because you take the necessary time to plan your meals for enjoyment, health and convenience.

2.  If you want to lose weight you have adopt a negative attitude about the fad diets that promise a temporary solution and a false escape from the reality of being overweight.

3.  Set realistic goals.  Plan to lose ½ - 2 lbs per week.

4.  Accept the challenge of responsible meal planning.  Find a goal-oriented balance for your health/diet priorities, some foods you find tasty, and the changing availability, or lack of, your time for meal preparation.

5.  Enhance your diet with the right supplements to aid your weight loss, to relieve menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes and sweats, AND to protect and improve your health.

Conscious or Unconscious?

Are you conscious of the decisions you make about food.  Or, do you find yourself unconsciously deciding to eat foods you know should not be part of your diet.  What healthy foods do you like/love? Have you planned appetizing weight loss/maintenance meals you can look forward to?  Do you have healthy snacks readily available.

1. Think about and plan what you eat.  Then, enjoy, appreciate and remember an occasional fattening “treat,” or meal out rather than unconsciously consuming them all the time.

2. Avoid “unconscious” driven-by-carbs behavior.  With the right diet you can stop being a slave to those cravings.

The DietVantage Menopause Advantage

Our Diet Principles

1. Your Liver First -- Restore your liver to its normal functioning.  Allow it to perform its job of purging your system of excess fat.  Caffeine, sugar, salt, alcohol and non-essential prescription drugs leach valuable minerals and constantly put your system into a stimulated fight-or-flight mode.   Your liver reacts by storing all available energy as fat for later use.  Needless to say, little or no fat gets purged from your system.

The Omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs) in flax oil and fish oil will get you liver working properly and reduce feelings of hunger.  In addition, they will help keep your brain, your heart and your eyes healthy and help your body to cope with all of the hormonal changes of menopause.

2. Eat the Food Pyramid  – more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean meats and fish.  Less bread, rice, pasta, white potatoes, processed foods, sweets, fatty meats, cheese, and butter

3. Drink lots of water and drink less or no sugary sodas, ---aids, and juices. Not drinking enough water can actually cause your body to retain water and cause cellulite in women. Avoid caffeine which can trigger the headaches and migraines that are associated with menopause, as well as hot flashes and night sweats.

4. Exercise Frequently – a little every day is better than a lot twice a week.  Split your time between building muscle (which burns fat) and cardiovascular activities like, walking, hiking, running and swimming. Exercise also relieves stress and tension and so reduces the depression and anxiety linked with menopause.

5. Graze –Eat snacks and small meals to lessen your appetite and your portions.

6. Increase your metabolism with the right spices – use cinnamon and garlic (especially), cloves, bay leaves, coriander, cayenne, dry mustard, ginger, parsley, cilantro, fennel, anise, dill, and cumin in your meals and recipes. 

7. Escape the highs and lows of the carbohydrate eating cycle.  Replace bread, white rice, pasta, white potatoes and sweets with more whole grains, fruits and vegetables.  Avoid foods with a high glycemic index (bread, rice, potatoes, sweets) Foods with a low glycemic index (fruits, vegetables, whole grains) naturally reduce your appetite.

8. Plan your portions.

Our Meals and Supplements

In addition to your food pyramid plan, incorporate these items into your weight plan

1.   Daily flax oil and fish oil with their omega 3 essential fatty acids, bottled is preferable to, and less expensive than, capsules.  Two daily tablespoons of oil is equal to about 20 capsules.  The bottles are more cost-effective.  Mix them into your morning smoothie (see blelow).

2.    Ground Flax Seed with its lignans absorbs cholesterol and toxins and keeps unwanted calories moving through your system.(1-2 tbsp) with 4 ounces of unsweetened cranberry juice 1-3 times a day mixed with 4 ounces of water.

3.    Green Tea Extract -- Green tea is an effective weight loss supplement because it slows the normal rise in blood sugar following a meal and because it increases the rate of metabolism and calorie burning.

4.    Whey Powder is the most common source of whey protein, which is know as the most digestively efficient protein. Use it for balanced diet and to replace carbs for long lasting energy without the crashes and cravings.  We really enjoy the great flavors of Designer Whey. 1-2 scoops in your morning smoothie.

5.   Stevia – a no-calorie, no-liver-interfering-chemicals natural sweetener

6.   Borage Oil -- a rich source of Omega 6 essential fatty acids including gamma linolenic acid (GLA). GLA is great for the dry, itchy skin which the menopause can cause and also helps to balance hormones, reducing hot flashes and mood swings.  (Browse though all our borage oil supplements.)

7.  Grape Seed Extract – Like Borage Oil, Black Currant Seed Oil is rich in GLA as well as Omega 3 essential fatty acids. Great for hormone production and balancing hormones. (Browse though all our grape seed supplements.)

8.   Evening Primrose Oil – With its high concentration of linolenic acid, it can help to combat dry skin due to hormonal changes and helps to ease hot flashes. (Browse though all our Evening Primrose oil supplements.)

9. Soy Isoflavones – Found in soy, isoflavones reduce menopause symptoms such as hot flashes while helping to increase bone density, reducing the risk of osteoporosis. They also help to reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer.   

10. GLA – Gamma Linolenic Acid is essential for the production of prostaglandins which are needed for hormone production and correct hormone function. Taking GLA supplements can help to combat night-time hot flashes. GLA can also help with weight loss and may prevent weight gain.

Suggested Meals and Specific Diet Foods

Breakfast

A smoothy every morning – made in a blender with the right amount of whey powder and a little skill, these can be as “smooth” and tasty as soft serve ice cream.

·           Flax oil and fish oil – We offer several choices.  Bottled is the most efficient, unless you are traveling.  Make your own choice from several here (flax oil and fish oil) or we recommend this flax oil and this fish oil.

·           Fresh or frozen berries (especially blueberries)

·           Whey Powder (1-2 scoops) Make your own choice from several here, or we recommend Designer Whey.

·           Unsweetened pomegranate and blueberry juice for their powerful antioxidants and unsweetened cranberry juice as a diuretic.

·           A half or whole banana

·           A dash of Stevia.  Make your own choice from several here, or we recommend this liquid concentrate. 

Lunch

·           Protein - Eggs, Tuna (light on the salad mayonnaise), fresh cooked turkey or chicken, fish

·           Avoid cold cuts with salt and chemical preservatives that can affect the digestive capacity of your liver

·           Avoid bread, spelt bread or rolls are okay.  (Spelt is an ancient grain, a precursor of wheat, that does not affect the liver the way milled white flour does.  It is yeast free and wheat free.  You can find it in Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods))

·           Salads – eat fresh produce with just enough salad dressing for taste.  Use olive oil, or no oil.  And light on the vinegar to limit the effect of Candida, which is in the yeast used to make vinegar (and beer!).

Dinner

Four ounces of  lean protein--Preferably turkey, chicken, fish and lean cuts of beef or lamb--accompanied by vegetables which can be prepared with high metabolism spices like cinnamon, mustard, cayenne, dill, ginger, garlic, cumin, anise, fennel, cloves, bay leaves, coriander, parsley, and cilantro.

Snacks

- Fruits and vegetables—e.g., a cored apple with cinnamon

- Avoid popcorn, a common “diet” snack – too much salt and saturated oil

- Check the labels on prepared snack foods for sugar, salt and fat content.

Restaurants

Exercise care eating out.  Inquire about ingredients and portion sizes.

How else can we help you?  Tell us about your menopause experiences and/or your diet problems.  dianna@dietvantage.com

NOTE – Unsweetened cranberry juice, spelt bread and other diet friendly foods can be found in stores like Trader Joe’s or the pricier Whole Foods.

Any herbal extract should be standardized. Standardization of an extract assures specific, measurable levels of the important compounds that benefit the body.  Standardized extracts need to be GMP compliant.  (GMP is a subset of Food and Drug Administration regulations.) 

Check with your doctor before taking herbal or diet supplements and starting a weight loss program.  Always consult a health professional for your healthcare needs.  Content is for informational purposes only and not for treating a health problem or concern.