The Menopause Diet

This is an excellent resource for women looking for health and weight loss throughout the process of menopause. Larrian offers a deeper understanding of how the body changes during menopause as well as how to take care of yourself during this time for ultimate health and well-being.

In her book, The Menopause Diet, Larrian Gillespie (About.com's former Low Carb Diets Guide) addresses an important issue many women face when going through menopause: Weight gain. Larrian takes care to explain, in easy-to-understand terms, the biological and psychological changes a woman's body experiences as she moves through life. She gives a simple explanation of how the digestive system works, providing a deeper understanding of how a menopausal woman's body responds to different foods. Her chapter on hormones and fat is particularly interesting, explaining in simple terms how hormones affect body fat storage, which often leads to 'Buddha belly' in menopause.

The meat of the book explains the theories behind the Menopause Diet, detailing how protein, caffeine, thyroid, alcohol and other elements affect a woman's health, body and weight. The diet itself suggests women eat 40% protein, 25% fat and 35% low glycemic carbs (carbs that are released more slowly into the blood stream) and encourages readers to eat 5 small meals a day. Exercise is another important part of the mix, along with eating soy and, unfortunately for some, avoiding alcohol. The basic principles Larrian preaches hold true for anyone trying to lose weight, but ring true particularly for women in menopause who are trying to get rid of the fat the magically seems to migrate to the belly.

She then offers 5 days worth of simple meals followed by a variety of recipes that even I (as a kitchen-phobic) had no difficulty cooking. Most were tasty and healthy, a tough mix to get in many healthy recipes. She offers some basic advice about exercise (I would've like to see more specifics here, but she does a good job covering the basics) and discusses other ways to to handle the symptoms and issues that come with Menopause: Hormone replacement therapy, natural therapies, dealing with stress, helpful nutrients and how to chart your own personal history. Overall, Larrian offers an in-depth understanding of what happens during menopause and, more importantly, offers hope for making this time enjoyable and healthy.

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.