How to Feed Your Hot Flashes and Save Your Heart

Women have been wondering, how do we eat to control hot flashes. Diet, the composition of that diet, your overall nutritional health, and your hormonal state all factor into whether you are going to have moderate or severe hot flashes. For some women this is merely adjusting her diet to be a bit less bothered; for other women eating right to control hot flashes can be a matter of significant health consequences. The Newest data released in October of 2012 from the Women's Health Initiative gives clues as to how diet affects your hot flashes. The diet can affect how you work with a hot flash that is occurring now, as well as the overall numbers of hot flashes you will have in the future. Gyno's have always recommended cooling water, and generally to be well hydrated when you are having hot flashes. Water to your diet is always good, and that is one way we should feed our hot flashes. Other gynos have recommended adding soy to the diet, but high soy intake has not consistently proven successful as a preventative hot flash treatment. Dr. Thurston and her colleagues have reported in another analysis of their NIH study of menopausal women, the SWAN study, that women with hot flashes have more heart disease. In fact this new study says that the more you flash the worse your blood lipids like cholesterol are. In fact women with hot flashes have worse triglycerides, and worse bad cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) as well as other markers of heart disease. In the new information of October 2012 the WHI tried to control the hot flashes of over 17,000 post menopausal women, not on hormones. The WHI researchers looked at whether a diet that was high in good nutrients like fruit, vegetables, and fiber would reduce hot flashes alone. What they found in their study, was that weight loss was more effective, regardless of the specifics of the diet. Heavier weight has always been linked to worse hot flashes. I like to liken it to wearing a (fake) fur coat all the time. We are literally insulated if we have excess fat, and that will make heat regulation falter. So a new piece of nutrition advice for those with hot flashes is to watch your fat intake and try to actually lose weight! What I found interesting is that how many hot flashes predicted these cholesterol tests better than knowing a woman's estrogen level! Why this could be is puzzling the researchers. We need to take the next step forward and understand that lots of hot flashes are not physiologically beneficial to us, and we have to take steps to make sure they are properly under control.