How Women 40+ Can Keep Blood Sugar Healthy Through Menopause

What triggers weight gain around your belly, messes with your energy levels, leaves your mood extremely volatile, contributes to chronic inflammation, and basically turns you into a hot mess? Yes—hormonal shifts and imbalances during perimenopause and menopause can do all of these things.

While it is normal and healthy for your blood sugar to go up and down gently throughout the day, it becomes an issue when these fluctuations are too great and too frequent1. This roller coaster not only makes you feel terrible at the moment, but it can also contribute to chronic conditions and insulin resistance1 and put you on the fast track for Type 2 diabetes.

Women are at higher risk of these issues during the perimenopause and menopause transition2—a reason to be extra vigilant about keeping blood sugar balanced during this time. While unregulated blood sugar and the resulting insulin peaks contribute to hormonal chaos3, well-managed blood sugar helps keep you satiated, happy, and energized through menopause and beyond.

Overall, it is a good idea for women to reduce their intake of simple carbohydrates (meaning sugar, white flour, and processed foods) and focus on complex carbohydrates4 (starchy veggies and fibrous foods) through perimenopause.

Note: I am not recommending a low-carb diet for women over 40 for many reasons, especially if you are active (which I hope you are!). While everyone is different, a more medium-carb approach tends to work for most people.

Do your best to consider the macronutrient ratio5 of every meal and every snack you consume: Aim to get lots of colors, a good amount of protein, a small number of complex carbs, and a little bit of healthy fat on each plate in order to slow down your blood sugar response.

Consuming vegetables6 and protein plus fat first7, then the carbohydrate part of your meal last, can slow your response down even further. I am not suggesting deconstructing sandwiches and burgers before eating unless you are metabolically unhealthy—this is just interesting to know!

Movement teaches your body how to properly and healthily metabolize energy, meaning it helps your metabolism works as it should. Regular exercise14 also leads to a better-functioning blood sugar response and higher insulin sensitivity.15

Walking after a meal optimizes your blood sugar17 response to this meal. It is actually quite impressive how healthy simply walking after a meal can be: Make sure to do it regularly!

When you are stressed, your body releases hormones that make you insulin resistant, keeping your blood sugar high. This makes sense when you consider that the purpose of these hormones is to make sure you have enough energy to run away from the stressor (e.g., a tiger).

Since we are usually not running away from anything when we are stressed, stress hormones, blood sugar, and insulin stay high, contributing to high blood pressure and chronic inflammation.

Doing regular relaxation techniques like meditation19 is crucial for long-term health and hormone balance. Find one that works for you and stick with it.