Hi, and welcome back to the podcast. In this episode, I met with Brenda Davis, a registered dietician, to discuss important topics such as protecting against osteoporosis, the many benefits of vegan protein, managing hot flashes, and some diet strategies to minimize weight gain during menopause. We also explored topics like micronutrients, omega-3s, and how to adjust your diet for cardiovascular health.
Brenda is a registered dietician, plant-based trailblazer, and an internationally acclaimed speaker. Brenda has been a featured speaker at medical, nutrition, and dietetic conferences in 28 countries on six continents. As a prolific nutrition writer, Brenda has authored and co-authored 13 books with over a million copies in print in 12 languages. Her latest book, Plantpowered Protein, was released in 2023. Brenda has also authored and co-authored numerous professional and lay articles and as a past chair of the vegetarian nutrition dietetic practice group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Brenda was the lead dietician in a diabetes randomized controlled trial in the Marshall Islands. In 2022, she was the seventh recipient of the Plantrition Project’s Luminary Award. Brenda lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. So, sit back, relax, and I hope you enjoy the interview.
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Hi Brenda, welcome to the podcast. Well, thank you so much for having me, Anna. It’s really a pleasure to be with you. Yeah, I’m really excited to learn from you and I have lots of questions to ask about all kinds of things related to menopause. Oh, awesome. Looking forward to it.
So, I want to start off by talking about osteoporosis. Yeah. How can menopausal and post-menopausal women protect themselves against osteoporosis, especially if they’re vegan?Yeah. So I think the first thing that people know is that studies have shown that vegan women are at increased risk of both hip and total fractures. And uh Epic Oxford was kind of shocking and and these are large studies that kind of look at incidents of disease in in in similar healthconscious individuals who consume different dietary patterns. And so they compare, you know, um, omnivores with semi-vearians, pesco vegetarians, lactoovo vegetarians and vegans. And generally, um, vegans do the best in terms of hypertension and heart disease risk and diabetes risk and so on. But for for fractures, uh, that isn’t the case. And in fact, Epic Oxford found hip fracture was 231% higher in vegans or that’s 2.3 times higher uh compared to similar healthconscious omnivores and the risk of total fractures was about 43% higher.
And um but but the one thing that that you need to note is that this increased risk was actually only observed in vegans with a BMI of less than 22.5. So very thin individuals. and it was strongest for post-menopausal women. The risk wasn’t increased at all for men and it was less for premenopausal women.
Um and then in the Adventist Health Study 2, another study, same kind of metrics and you know very large study, um the risk in female vegans was 55% higher than similar healthconscious omnivores. Um but the women who were taking calcium and vitamin D did not have an increased risk. And in both studies, men didn’t have an increased risk. And so, I think we just need to recognize that we may be at increased risk being vegan. And and part of it’s because we’re we’re slimmer. Um, but part of it’s because we eat less protein and less maybe less calcium and vitamin D and, you know, omega-3 fatty acids and B12 and so on. They that can all contribute. So there are a lot of things that we can do um to minimize our risk and and and so um you know some of the most important strategies are number one we do need to make sure we’re getting enough calcium and vitamin D and and calcium what’s recommended for women over 50 and men over 70 is 1,200 milligrams and and so how do how do we do that?
Um, you know, to me, one of the easiest ways is to include fortified plant-based milk. So, if you have like I I include soy milk, and I have probably a cup and a half or two cups a day. Um, you know, a cup with my breakfast and a cup in preparation of foods and in different things, chia pudding and, you know, gravies and things like that. But, um, that provides about 600 millig of calcium. So getting to that 1,200 mg is pretty easy if if you’re including at least one or two servings of these kinds of fortified non-dairy beverages, calcium z tofu, dark leafy greens that are low in oxylic acid. So things like kale and bok choy and and a lot of the Chinese other Chinese greens um but not spinach, Swiss chard and beet greens because they’re so high in oxalates that we don’t absorb much of the calcium that’s there.
And then other foods like chia seeds, almonds, tahini, uh dried figs, there are quite a few other foods that provide you a little bit of calcium. If you get little bits over the course of the day, you actually absorb a lot more than if you had, you know, 500 milligrams in one sitting. So, little bits over the day is is really the way to do it.
And then vitamin D. Well, most of us will not get enough vitamin D from from uh fortified foods. said, you know, the main sources in a non uh plant-based diet are fish and eggs and things like that, dairy products that are fortified. We get some, of course, about the same amount you will get from fortified dairy products um from fortified nondairy milks. Uh but but it’s really hard to meet the RDA of 600 IUs a day for people under 70 and people uh over 70, 800 IUs a day. It’s very difficult from food alone. Uh so you you need to either be exposed to warm sunshine which we live in Canada. We do not produce vitamin D during the cold months which can be six or seven months in or more in a lot of places. And so we pretty much have to take supplements and so do many omnivores as well. and and you know recommended like even the endocrine society just recommends the RDA of 6 to 800 IUs depending on your age. Um but a lot of experts recommend more 1 to 4,000 IUs and I know some people to get their blood levels where they want them to be in the right range uh they have to even go slightly higher than that. But personally I my levels are good and I just take a thousand uh IUs a day.
And then the other things that you know are interesting with osteoporosis there there for for a lot of years people in the vegan community believed that protein intake was associated with increased osteoporosis risk because protein can actually increase the loss of calcium in our urine. Well, we have known for many years now that protein is actually protective. While protein does increase urinary calcium excretion, it also enhances calcium absorption. It promotes bone bone formation. So, it actually has a net positive impact on bone health. And and this has even been quantified. There was a study that showed for every one gram increase in protein, calcium absorption is increased by 1%. And and we just need to to recognize that um you know most of the studies on on vegans, people that are at the higher end of protein intake uh do better in terms of bone health.
So we need to make sure we get enough protein. Uh we need to make sure we get enough omega-3s. They reduce inflammation and that helps with bone health. And then the other nutrients that we might want to just be aware of are vitamin K. Now, we get lots of K1 from leafy greens and from some other foods as well. Um, you know, not very many people eat natto, but natto is actually one of our few sources of vitamin K2 in plants. Uh, but but basically, um, you know, K2 is is the form of vitamin K that seems to be very important to protecting bones. And so if you’re a person who’s at risk for osteoporosis, if you have osteopenia or if you already have osteoporosis, I would consider taking K2 because there’s no guarantee you’re going to be efficiently converting K1 to K2. Many people do, but some people don’t. And so you want to aim for about the RDA, which is 90 micrograms uh for women above the age of 19 and above. Uh so somewhere around you know 100 to 200 micrograms is is you know probably in in in a reasonable range and then other nutrients like magnesium uh potassium are important but we tend to get enough of those.
And then you want to avoid too much sodium, too much um you know phosphoric acid from soft drinks and too much alcohol. All of those can have a negative impact. And then finally, uh you know, last but not least, uh you need to be doing more than just getting the nutrients your body needs to maintain uh strong bones. You need to be telling your body that your bones need to be strong. And you do that by doing weightbearing exercise. And and the importance of this just can’t be overstated. It stimulates bone remodeling. It increases bone density. And so you want to be doing weightbearing cardio exercises like walking, jogging, hiking, dancing, cardio classes, hit classes, cross training, whatever. Uh but you also want to be doing resistance training at least two or three times a week with weights or resistance bands. And I think balance and flexibility exercises like yoga and tai chi are also important because they can help you to reduce your fall risk. They just they they help you um maintain strength and flexibility, both of which are important. And you also want to undergo sort of testing to see where your bone mineral density is at. Um and I think that kind of sums it up for osteoporosis. Any questions?
What about the relationship between osteoporosis and dairy? Is dairy actually harmful for your bones?You know it it’s interesting that you know in some countries uh that you know in countries that have high dairy intakes they also have high osteoporosis risk but it doesn’t mean dairy causes osteoporosis. So uh in fact um you know if if you look at uh at at you know dairy intake in in certain countries where part of the country isn’t dairy consuming and the other part is the part that consumes dairy has better bone health uh because they’re getting calcium and vitamin D and protein and all of these things that that they need for building bones. So, so it’s it’s a bit of a myth that, you know, because countries that have high dairy intake have higher osteoporosis rates that dairy causes osteoporosis. They also have more cell phones and more, you know, of all sorts of things. So, the the evidence just isn’t there to say that dairy increases osteoporosis risk, but that doesn’t mean dairy is necessary for strong bones. And and I think that’s a big mistake, too. We’re taught from, you know, time we’re little kids that that uh, you know, dairy equals, you know, strong bones and if you don’t drink dairy, your bones all just collapse. Uh, and so that’s not true either. Uh, there are lots of places in the world where dairy is not consumed and bone health is pretty good, but they’re getting calcium from other places. They’re they’re they’re doing lots of weightbearing exercise. They’re, you know, their lifestyles are conducive to building and maintaining strong bones.
In the vegan community, there’s a lot of talk about uh joking around, but where do you get your protein as as a joke, right? Because all vegans know that it’s very possible to get enough protein. Yes, of course. But it seems like people think that the only reason to get protein would be for muscles. Yes. No. protein uh the the um sort of roles of protein in the human body are just endless. It’s not just building and maintaining body tissues. It’s it’s building and producing all of these enzymes and and hormones and bones and you know it there’s so many other roles of protein. Uh it’s carriers for fats. It’s, you know, the proteins are just needed in so many respects. So, we need to get enough protein and and you know, it’s in the in the vegan world, the mantra is if you get enough calories, you get enough protein. And that is usually true, but it’s not always true.So, for example, in younger people who eat junk food diets, they’re eating, you know, pop and and French fries and living on junk food, uh, they’re not going to get enough protein. And for athletes, it’s not usually a difficult thing if they’re eating a healthy diet because they eat so many calories. But for seniors, especially senior women who require fewer calories, especially in the older uh stages of, you know, the latter stages of life when they’re in their 80s and 90s and so forth, they’re eating few calories, but their their protein needs actually increase. So, so you know the RDA is 08 gram per kilogram body weight per day for protein but the evidence is getting stronger and stronger. Uh the consensus is building that that’s not enough for older adults and um in many groups like the you know the European Society for Clinical Nutrition Metabolism recommends I I think a lot of experts globally now recommend 1 to 1.2 grams per kilogram per day for healthy older adults. They recom recommend more than that for those with sarcopenia or other certain other chronic conditions. They’re recommending 1.2 to 1.5. And so if you’re recovering from an acute injury or something like that, it’ll be even higher. So for a 65 year old vegan whose healthy weight is 60 kilograms, uh they would need somewhere 60 to 72 grams of protein per day. Um and and that is, you know, not that easy to achieve when you’re eating 15 or 1600 calories. And so that’s where the challenge comes in. And that’s why often uh after menopause, you actually need to focus more on high protein foods than you need to in your younger years.
So um so for example uh with each meal you want to include at least one concentrated source of protein like legumes, uh soy milk, tofu, tempeh, uh Satan, um you know, some seeds like hemp seeds, chia seeds, uh pumpkin seeds are all pretty good sources. Some people will use some protein powders. That’s not my preferred source of protein, but definitely including more proteinrich foods makes a lot of sense at this stage of life. And and so what you’re looking at for most people is around the 25 to 30 grams of protein per meal. And you want to include lucine uh rich foods as well. So the soy foods and Satan are particularly uh lucine rich as are pumpkin seeds and and hemp seeds. But older adults, it’s like a double whammy because they’re they’re eating fewer calories. They need more protein to to build and maintain muscle, but they experience anabolic resistance, meaning that their bodies are somewhat resistance resistant to muscle building. And so that’s challenging. But the other key here is is in terms of preventing sarcopenia and muscle wasting for older women and men for that matter. Uh is the weight you know bearing exercises and strength training at least two to three times a week.
And um so you know I I am very confident that aiming for one to 1.2 two grams per kilogram per day of protein is a very reasonable thing to do for older vegans. And I can tell you, I’ve had a number of vegan older women clients who say, “My skin’s breaking. I’m bleeding. Uh it it just bruises easily. I’m tired. I I my hair is falling out.” You know, all of these things that are associated with my mood’s changing. uh it you know associated with insufficient protein intake and when I analyze their diets they’re almost always getting 35 to 40 gram 45 grams of protein a day they’re they’re eating a whole food plant-based diet their meals look decent but they’re not concentrated enough in protein and so when I take them from 35 to 45 a day to 60 to 70 a day um generally all of those things clear out.
And and so it it means like so let’s say if they’re having, you know, steel cut oats with almond milk and banana or blueberry, you know, on top, um they might be getting, you know, 10 grams of protein in that meal. But if we if we swap out the almond milk for soy milk, we add in a couple tablespoons of hemp seeds, um we’re adding 15 g of protein instantly. and and and so, you know, with a cup of steel cut oats and a cup of soy milk and a couple tablespoons of hemp seeds and a cup of blueberries, they’re getting over 25 grams of protein. So, that, you know, is a very reasonable breakfast meal. And then if they’re having a big salad for lunch with some, you know, starch and a little bit of beans or something, we can, you know, up the protein and often non-fat sugar-based dressing. weaken up the protein by adding in like some lentils, some tofu cubes, some quinoa, uh pumpkin seeds, uh using a tahini, hemp seed dressing instead of a sugarbased dressing, you can easily get close to 30 grams of protein in that salad by doing that. And then, you know, at dinner, if you’re doing whatever your, you know, bean stuffed sweet potatoes or your tofu stir fry or whatever, you can easily get your 30 grams of protein by including those more concentrated protein foods in the meal. And so, it’s not that difficult to to meet protein requirements. But protein is something we need to pay attention to.
So for someone who doesn’t really like to calculate the grams in their food, they can still definitely do that in three meals a day. Absolutely. Absolutely. And you don’t need to have a calculator in hand. You just need to include at least one or two decent protein sources with each of of your meals. If you’re having snacks, then you know, include something. So if you’re having an apple, have a little bit of peanut butter with it. you know, add, you know, if you’re making smoothies, add hemp seeds, add soft tofu, use fortified soy milk, frozen peas. Uh, you know, some people even use cooked legumes in their smoothies, but you can add a lot of protein sources to your smoothies. And then at dinner, just always make sure you’re having a decent portion of tofu, tempeh, satan, beans, lentils, you know, and use the seeds that are more protein richch, like pumpkin seeds, like uh hemp seeds more often. And nuts provide a little bit as well. They’re not as concentrated as seeds, but things like almonds are decent sources of lucine. They’re decent sources of protein, um just not as concentrated. And even surprises people, but even grains can be a contributor to to protein. So, you know, wheat berries, felt berries, kamut berries have about 10 grams in a cup. Quinoa has about 8 grams in a cup. So, those are much more concentrated than grains like rice, for example.
What are your thoughts on omega-3 fatty acid supplements?
Well, I have really strong feelings about this as I do about most things, but omega-3 fatty acids are absolutely critical to health and particularly the more biologically active omega-3s, which are the longchain omega-3s called EPA and DHA and DPA as well. And and while we can make these longchain fatty acids that most people get from fish, we can make them from ALA, which is the type of omega-3s in plants. The conversion of alpha linolinic acid or ALA to EPA and DHA is very inefficient. We might convert 5 to 10% for EPA and, you know, one to 5% for DHA if we’re lucky. and our and our ability to convert waines as we get older. So, you know, pre u um child women of childbearing age are much more efficient converters than older women. And so, um and and DHA is really critical for brain health. Uh EPA as well for cardiovascular function, reducing inflammation. So in my view it makes sense to you know get your ALA uh from plant foods like from chia seeds and hemp seeds and flax seeds and and from walnuts and you know these foods are good sources. So, we want to get maybe two or three grams of ALA per day. And that’s, you know, a tablespoon of chia, flax seeds, a couple tablespoons of hemp seeds, a/4 cup of walnuts, even canola oil, uh, is a, you know, a decent source. You get about 1.3 grams in a tablespoon of canola oil if you use oils. But even if you do all of that, I think it’s really wise uh to to take a a supplement of the EPA and DHA. And and just so people know, fish get most of their EPA and DHA from microalgae. So this is these are little plants that grow in the ocean that we are now culturing to produce EPA and DHA. And so it’s not like there’s something magical about fish. They just get their EPA and DHA from these plants. We can get them from these PL. We can get it from these plants as well.
Now, there is a lab measure called the omega-3 index that’s done to test our omega-3 status. And the goal is to have an omega-3 index of about 8%. Now, if you’re in the range of about six to eight, that’s pretty good. The average vegan’s around three. The average maybe lactal oval vegetarian might be around four if they eat eggs with DH, you know, and some eggs have quite a bit of DHA. And and for omnivores that include a little bit of fish, they might be at around the five. For big fish eaters, they might be 8 to 10 uh% on the omega-3 index. and and the omega-3 index is associated with with better health, better cognition, better cardiovascular health. And and so I actually, this is interesting, but I just had my omega-3 index done. I just got the results back two days ago, and my omega-3 index was 5.7%. My husband’s was 6.1, and he was taking a little bit more than me. He’s a bigger person, so we thought that would make sense. Uh, I was taking 500 milligrams a day of EPA and DHA and it wasn’t enough to get me to 8%. And there have been a number of studies showing that we probably need to be closer to 750 to a,000 to get that to get to that 8%. And then once we’re there, we may be able to back off a little bit to 500 milligrams. Now, full disclosure, I don’t always remember to take my EPA DHA. And when I’m away, I I don’t take it at all. So, and that can add up in terms of, you know, sometimes being away for three or four weeks at the time, but I’m going to be more consistent with it. And I’m going to up my intake to 750 milligrams a day because I really want to to reach that ideal 8% level. And I know this is a bit of a controversial uh subject in the plant-based world, but I just think it makes so much sense. And and actually there was a just a study done from the Adventist child study too showing a little bit of an increased risk of some of their neurological conditions in older vegans and and and vegetarians. And and so there’s some, you know, concern about that. It just to me makes sense to make sure that our levels are optimal.
And and so how, you know, how do we do how do we do this? Well, we make sure we get enough ALA. We don’t overdo omega sixes. We we want to eat plenty of seeds and and other omega6 rich foods, but I wouldn’t be pouring omega-6 oils on my food. So, if you’re using oils, use more the uh either omega-3 oils or monochri oils like avocado or olive oil. Uh the omega-3 rich oils would be flax or seed oils. And and then, you know, just um make sure you’re eating a a good diet so that you have plenty of the co-actors that enhance your conversion to maximize conversion of ALA to EP and DHA. you need, you know, enough zinc and magnesium and B6 and B12 and all of those uh nutrients come with a welldesigned plant-based diet. So, seems like a good backup plan to take omega-3 supplements just in case you’re eating all the hemp seed and chia and flax and not converting it as efficiently as you thought you might be.
Yeah. And and we and we don’t. And some people are concerned, well, if I take it directly, then it’s going to downregulate my conversion, but it doesn’t matter because your conversion isn’t very good anyway. Uh, so taking the direct sources will help you to get where you need to be. And and to me, it seems like it’s the only thing that does. I, you know, see vegans getting tested all the time, and if they’re not taking EPA and DHA, they’re low. Their omega-3 index is low.
for people who are unfamiliar with omega6 which you suggested to not overdo. Could you um list a few of those? Yeah. So omega6 so so if you’re looking at you know sort of the fatty foods in the vegan diet, you’ve got uh nuts which are mainly mono. You’ve got uh avocados which are mainly mono and olives. Um then you have seeds and seeds are mainly poly and so polyunsaturated fats which includes omega sixes and omega-3s. Now many seeds are are richer in omega sixs. So, grape seed oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, unless they’re specifically engineered to be high in oleic acid or high mono sunflower, high mono safflower, otherwise they’re mostly uh omega sixs. And uh and so and even soybean oil will be mostly omega sixes. And so the the oils that are omega-3 rich are flax, hemp, I don’t know if there is such a thing as chia seed oil. I haven’t seen it, but you know, walnut oil will be will be fair. Walnuts have a ratio of about 4:1 omega6 to omega-3, which is really good. You want something in the range of 2:1 to 4:1 ideally as an overall target. Um, but of course flax and chi are much higher. Uh so you know doing that but but the oils you need to be concerned about are the grape seed and corn. Canola oil is has a ratio of 2 to1. It’s it’s actually mostly mono. So it’s actually a really nice balance of of fatty acids.
Let’s talk about hot flashes. Can phytoestrogens help manage hot flashes?
Well the research suggests yes. And and so, you know, it’s interesting. So, so the main source of phytoestrogens, of course, is soy. And it it can help with hot flashes that can help with cardiovascular risks. So, phytoestrogens are essentially plant-based compounds that that look kind of like estrogens in the body, but they they’re very different in many ways than human produced estrogen. So they they’re they’re called serums, selective estrogen receptor modulators, and they pre prefer preferentially bind to um uh estrogen receptor beta or ER beta over estrogen receptor alpha. And this sort of more selective binding allows for the sort of unique physiological effects and and explains why soy will act differently than human produced estradiol for example. And so estrogen receptor alpha is found primarily in the uterus, the breast, the the liver and it stimulates cell proliferation and so it can increase the risk of breast cancer and endometrial cancer. Um and and and whereas estrogen receptor beta is found in the bones, the brains, the cardiovascular system, the bladder and it tends to have more anti- proliferative effects and so it reduces cell growth and so it tends to be more neuroprotective and cardiorotrotective. And so soy generally uh has been found to support heart health, reduce hot flashes, help to minimize the risk of breast cancer. And so that’s all quite interesting. There was actually a metaanalysis or a couple of metaanalyses I would say that that have shown that soy isoflavones reduce frequency and severity of hot flashes probably about 20 to 50%.
And it the effectiveness is much better in people that consume soy regularly. So you know about 50 milligrams of isoflavones a day. And so what you’re looking at you know in terms of isoplavones would be like a cup of tofu would provide about 50 milligrams of isoflavones a cup of tempe about 60. Two cups of soy milk about 50. So you know a half a cup of edomami is about 20. Um so you get the idea. If you’re eating including a variety of soy foods, you’ll easily meet that that 50 milligrams of visoplavones that seem to be, you know, outful. Oh, and the other thing is that women who are planteaters tend to be um better equal producers and that’s the more active form of isoflavones which which may provide even greater benefits. So vegetarians about 59% or close to 60% are ecal producers compared to only about 25% of non-vegetarians and that’s because of their gut bacteria. We have gut bacteria that tend to convert isoflavones into ecol which is you know really a good thing.
Are there any micronutrients that you would recommend vegans consider supplementing?
Uh yes. So so we already talked a little bit about calcium, vitamin D, omega-3s, but the the probably the most critical is B12. Vitamin B12 is not naturally present in plant foods. Now it can be present in if for example tempeh is fermented in unsanitary conditions where there’s B12 producing bacteria present then there might be some B12 there. But generally, you know, sanitary plant foods where we’re trying to get rid of potentially pathogenic bacteria, we also get rid of B12 producing bacteria. So, we can’t rely on plant foods uh as a source of B12 unless it’s fortified. And so, you know, like certain nutritional yeasts like Red Star vegetarian support formula, for example, will be fortified with B12. um fortified plant milks, some fortified cereals, some meat analoges are fortified with B12. But even if you eat a variety of these things, you’re not guaranteed to get to where you need to be. So for most planteaters, especially vegans, it makes sense to to take a B12 supplement. And what is generally recommended is 1,000 micrograms two to three times a week. Now, for people who are 65 plus, often the recommendation increases because we’re not as good at metabolizing and absorbing uh nutrients. And so, uh many experts are saying 500 to a,000 micrograms a day, but it makes sense to get your levels tested so you know kind of where you need to shoot for. If your levels tend to be on the low side, you want to go for that daily 500 to a,000 micrograms. If your levels are high, that thousand micrograms two or three times a week is probably absolutely fine for you. And of course, you know, a lack of B12 can be a problem for brain health, for cognitive function. It can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease because it shoots your homocyine up. So, it’s just really, really important to get your B12.
You mentioned homocyine and I was wondering if you could explain that for the audience. Yeah. So homocyine is it’s a breakdown product of methionine and if it builds up in your body to an unhealthy level then it’s associated with heart disease and it’s associated with brain dysfunction and even for younger people with problems with pregnancy. Uh so it’s just you don’t want homocyine levels to rise and people that have problems metabolizing methionine and folic acid and you know if they have an MTHR uh issue then it can be a you know an even bigger challenge for them. So then it’s really important that they’re getting a decent source of uh B12. So, we mentioned B12. Another nutrient you need to think about is iodine. Especially if you don’t use iodized salt, then you would need to use an iodiz an iodine supplement or, you know, a tiny bit of seaweed, something like that. Seaweed is a little tricky because it’s so concentrated. You really need to know how much is there. And then above and beyond that, just making sure you get your legumes and nuts and seeds for iron and zinc as well.
How does menopause affect cardiovascular risk and how can a woman adjust her diet to minimize that risk?
Um, menopause is associated with a fairly significant increase in risk of cardiovascular disease and that’s partly due to estrogen decline. Estrogen decline means an increase in LDL cholesterol, reduced HDL cholesterol, high tri higher triglycerides uh which can increase plaque buildup in your arteries. It can lead to increased blood pressure. Um so there and arterial stiffness. So there are all sorts of issues and because cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in post-menopausal women, it’s an issue. But eating a plant-based diet is definitely a risk reducer. So, you know, you’re eating less saturated fat, you’re eating more unsaturated fat, you’re eating more fiber, you’re doing if you especially if you’re including the omega-3s, you’re getting more plant steriles and stanels, which can block uh cholesterol absorption. Of course, that’s not a big deal if you don’t eat cholesterol. So, but even your intakes of magnesium and potassium are often higher. You often are consuming more of the things that will boost nitric oxide production and contain nitric oxide like you know u vegetables like beets and spinach and arugula and bok choy and and so th those kinds of things can be uh helpful as well. And but as mentioned before, to prevent buildup of homocyine, we need to make sure we’ve got our beef well. We want to include plenty of antioxidants, but we’re at an advantage because antioxidants and phyitochemicals are concentrated in colorful plant foods. And and so, of course, this is why vegans tend to have significantly lower risk of eskeemic heart disease and other types of heart disease as well than non-vegetarians. So that’s, you know, it’s all it’s mostly good news um for for vegans where heart disease is concerned, but we don’t want to shoot ourselves in the foot by forgetting about vitamin B12 because that’s critical to cardiovascular.
Would you like to share about your own experience with menopause?
Oh, sure. So, so I went through menopause. I’m 66 years of age now and I went through menopause um probably 13 years ago or so. And I was one of the lucky ones. I mean, about 20 to 25% of women really don’t have many symptoms of menopause. And I was one of those lucky people. I I did feel warm once in a while, but I never, you know, felt unbearably hot or anything like that. So, I was I I I kind of sailed through with the exception of I noticed that I couldn’t eat as many calories. I just couldn’t I I continued the same level of physical activity. I’m I’ve always been very physically active. So, I bu I probably average an hour and a half of physical exercise a day and and I do a balance of, you know, cardio, resistance training, flexibility exercises. I mostly do it in classes like hit and step and box and spin and body power and yoga and all of that, but I also do cross-country skiing and hiking and those kinds of things as well. But even with all of that, even without changing my level of activity, I found that to avoid weight gain during menopause, I had to cut back on my calories. And I did that basically by decreasing my portion sizes of concentrated carbohydrates like grains and starchy vegetables. Increasing my portion sizes a little bit of protein richch foods like beans. And then um moderating intake of really concentrated calories like avocados and nuts and seeds and not eating between meals. So I just eat breakfast, lunch, dinner. I rarely have any snacks. Um, you know, of course I’m flexible. If we’re having a family occasion or we’re watching a movie with the grandkids and having popcorn, that’s, you know, a different story, but it’s fairly rarely that I would do that.
And so that’s the thing that I think people need to really be aware of. Um, menopause for many women results in weight gain and changes in sort of distribution of of the fat in their body and it’s all stuff that they’re not very happy with. And and this is really because it brings about hormonal changes that you know just slow metabolism and increased fat accumulation and change body composition and and so