I am 53 and this year my cycles have just started to change in frequency. I’ve been Keto for 5+ years, mostly ZC for the last 18 months.
My insomnia and perimenopausal weight gain stopped soon after going Keto.
Keto kept hot flashes at bay until this summer, but I had been losing body fat, so it made sense to me that my estrogen level was higher. Have been using Pro-gest cream with great success. Now that I am close to maintenance weight, I am tapering off the cream.
Here’s an excerpt from Maria Emmerich’s FB page that I found helpful:
Keto Adapted - Maria Emmerich
_September 23, 2013 · _
A well-formulated keto-adapted diet works for menopausal symptoms by replacing glucose that’s lacking from the estrogen-deprived brain. When glucose can’t get into brain, it causes hot flashes and low cognitive function, two common complaints of my clients going through menopause. Ketone bodies are water-soluble fat breakdown products that can pinch hit for glucose in the brain and other tissues.
When the brain is deprived of estrogen after decades of exposure, hot flashes arrive. During the years of exposure, estrogen becomes closely involved in the transportation of glucose into the brain cells. When we are menstruating and have healthy estrogen, it transports about 40 percent more glucose into the brain cells than would be shuttled without estrogen. When the healthy estrogen goes away at menopause, the transportation of glucose into the brain cells decreases, and the brain cells become a little starved for energy. The hypothalamus responds to this starvation by increasing the release of norepinephrine [adrenaline], which increases the level of sugar in the blood, to raise the heart rate, and this causes an increase in the body temperature. A hot flash is an outward sign that the brain’s trying to protect itself from blood sugar starvation.
Ultimately, you want to use fat to fuel you’re your body instead of carbs. Carbohydrates promote inflammation and leads to hormonal imbalances that further intensify symptoms. Women who are already in menopause and halt the detrimental symptoms with a well-formulated keto-adapted diet often see a regular menstrual cycle return, less belly fat tissue, along with increased libido.
To get keto adapted ASAP, sign up for the accelerated package! http://mariamindbodyhealth.com/my-services/