It’s widely recognised that dietary choices can significantly impact the menopause experience, influencing both feelings and symptom manifestation. These healthful nibbles are easy to whip up and require minimal time commitment.
Eileen Durward, a menopause specialist at A. Vogel, a producer of herbal remedies, has shed light on the advantages these snacks offer to women navigating menopause.
Moreover, these snack options are budget-friendly and readily available in most grocery stores. Eileen also addresses the question of whether snacking in the evening is beneficial or not, reports the Express.
So, what’s the top snack pick? Eileen said: “One of the best snacks that you can get is a combination of nuts and seeds and dried fruits.”
Nuts
She said: “These are absolutely great. They’re little powerhouses of energy and nutrition. Just for instance, walnuts look like little brains. These are great for brain function. They contain omega-3. Walnuts are great for your hair and your skin.
“We’ve got Brazil nuts. These are great for general repair, they are really good for your hormones, and they’re great for your skin. These are your anti-ageing nuts if you like.
“We’ve got almonds. These are great. They’ve got loads of protein. They’ve got vitamin E which is great for your skin. And, they’re high in calcium and magnesium, so they’re going to be good for your bones and your nails and your hair as well.”
She also highlighted that hazelnuts are “full of fibre” and can boost digestive health for those with “little sluggish” bowels. Not only that, but they’re beneficial for your hair and skin too.
Seeds
Discussing seeds, the specialist said: “Pumpkin seeds are full of good oils that are going to help your joints, going to help brain function, and they’re also full of magnesium, calcium and zinc as well. Zinc is great for your nails and for your skin, too.”
Dried fruit
Eileen said: “Just a little bit of dried fruit. Don’t have too much, because these are full of sugar. This is a great little handful. What you can do is you can put it in a tub. You can take it with you to work. You can carry it around in your handbag as well.
“This, if you actually think about the calorie content, and I know a lot of you will be thinking ‘Oh nuts and seeds they’re really high in calories’, there’ll be fewer calories in this little handful than there will in a jam doughnut or a couple of chocolate biscuits.”
Eileen added the assurance that while some snacks are calorific without nutritional benefits, she added: “You’re not actually getting good nutrition from those things, but these, they’re going to be full of just about everything you need to keep you going until your next meal.”
Vegetables
She said: “A nice little tub that, again, you can take to work or take out on the road with you. Chop things like your carrots. You can use cucumber. You can use celery. You can just use a little bit of hummus. It’s absolutely great, a fabulous snack, and the hummus has lovely oils and fats that will keep your blood sugars really nice and level.”
Nut butters
On the topic of nut butters, Eileen said: “One of my favourites for a quick afternoon or morning snack is a couple of teaspoons of peanut butter. You can also use other nut butter such as almond butter or cashew nut butter as well. Again, you can just take them off the spoon. Don’t have too many. You can actually go a little bit overboard. Try and keep to a couple of teaspoons full.
“If you’re going for things like peanut butter, make sure there’s no sugar in it. Go for an organic one, with no sugar and low salt as well. You can also use these on oat cakes. These are great. Just spread a little bit. Put them together. Have a little bit of a peanut butter sandwich, if you like.”
“At this particular point, I wouldn’t recommend rice cakes purely because they are very high carbohydrate. They will break down very quickly, and they’ll give you a bit of a sugar hit, which is not what you want. Oatcakes are great because they release energy really, really slowly.”
Eggs
When it comes to eggs, Eileen said: “This is a fabulous snack to take with you. It’s full of protein and will help to keep you going. I usually hard-boil mine.”
Durward highlighted the significance of night-time nibbles, stating that they are “important” but should be consumed an hour before bed. She added: “If you’re not sleeping well and if you’re waking up in the middle of the night maybe with a little bit of palpitations. This is very often due to the fact that your blood sugar levels are so low that your body is waking up in a panic.
“My favourite indulgent snack is some full-fat Greek yoghurt and some cocoa powder. I know some of you will go ‘Oh full fat we don’t want full fat’. You need the full fat to help keep your blood sugar level for as long as possible.
“Cocoa powder, now this is not drinking chocolate. There’s no sugar in the cocoa powder. You can use this, or you can actually use pure cacao powder. There’s only about 25 calories in a teaspoon, so this is a great indulgent snack.”