"If I’m at home I’ll have sourdough toast with avocado, poached eggs and roasted cherry tomatoes." Photo / 123rf
"If I’m at home I’ll have sourdough toast with avocado, poached eggs and roasted cherry tomatoes." Photo / 123rf
Dr Alice Duffy is a former GP who used her personal experience of menopause to set up Health in Menopause, a private clinic in Nottingham, England.
Here’s what she does every day to stay healthy:
Start the day the right way
Breakfast is usually porridge made with milk and toppedwith pumpkin and sunflower seeds, blueberries and strawberries. The seeds are high in vitamin E and flavonoids which help prevent chronic disease. Pumpkin seeds are a great source of magnesium and zinc which are both important for bone health in menopause. The berries up my fibre intake - good for heart health and the gut microbiome.
If the weather is good, I head outside for a brisk, five-mile (8km) morning walk which takes around an hour. If it’s raining heavily I exercise at home. For a cardio workout, I’ll do a spin class on my Peloton bike for 30 minutes and on other days I do yoga - this kind of resistance exercise keeps muscles and joints strong, supported and flexible as you go through menopause. Downward dog, side planks and the chair pose are all brilliant for strength-building.
Resistance exercises keep muscles and joints strong, supported and flexible as you go through menopause.
A heart- and gut-friendly lunch
I always make a packed lunch when I’m working in my clinic - a calcium-rich cheese sandwich made with wholemeal bread (packed with heart-friendly fibre), mature cheddar, tomato, cucumber and onion chutney, followed by an apple. The onions and garlic in the chutney are prebiotic foods that keep your gut microbiome healthy. This is essential for weight control, mood regulation and reducing inflammation in your body in menopause.
If I’m at home I’ll have sourdough toast with avocado, poached eggs and roasted cherry tomatoes. The sourdough is high in fibre and also is a fermented food so good for your gut microbiome. Avocados are rich in unsaturated fats which are important for cardiovascular health. Eggs contain choline which benefits cognitive function. There’s evidence that verbal learning and verbal memory are negatively impacted in menopause - aka brain fog - so eggs are a good choice.
One-pot recipes
My husband and I eat at around 7pm and it’s usually fish and vegetables. I love any one-pot cookery recipes. My favourite is cauliflower, aubergine and red onion tossed with olive oil, ginger, cumin and coriander, baked in the oven. It’s topped with flaked almonds, fresh coriander and feta cheese with a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice and a spoon of Greek yoghurt. I’ll have this on its own or with salmon. The recipe is packed with foods that are gut microbiome-friendly. Salmon is rich in Omega 3 which may help with heart health.
Friday and Saturday nights I like to have a drink with family or friends - I usually share a bottle of white wine with my husband over dinner - unless I’m on holiday or it’s a special occasion. I try to keep alcohol associated with celebration and not something to reach for to de-stress. Drinking water alongside alcohol helps offset the dehydrating effects of alcohol so we always have water on the table, too.
To help with sleep, it’s important to instil good bedtime habits. Don’t exercise too late in the day - finish your workout within two hours of going to bed - otherwise exercise endorphins could interfere with your sleep.
I have osteoarthritis in my fingers so I take curcumin, the main substance in turmeric. There’s evidence to suggest it has some benefit with few side effects and I find that it helps to reduce the inflammation in the joints of my fingers.
