Nutrition & Hydration - Considerations in Menopause
- Dr. Rochelle Bernstein
- Jul 10, 2023
- 8 min read
Let's talk about nutrition and hydration for active menopausal women. Athletic women of all ages chronically undereat. (I'm describing anyone who regularly exercises on purpose as an athlete...from those who regularly take brisk walks with their friends to those training for competition.) Some women undereat because they have body image issues but others because they don't realize how much food they need. For example, a 140-pound woman needs to eat about 2300-2500 calories on most of her training days. Surprised? In fact, most athletic women barely eat enough calories to meet their basic metabolic needs. This state of being underfed is called Low Energy Availability (LEA). After only 4 days of LEA, thyroid function and bone formation start to be disrupted. If you continue in a state of LEA, you may develop a multi-system condition known as Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), which is a cascade of hormone disruption that results in a serious medical condition.
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