Keto And Menopause: Is It Safe For Menopausal Women With Adrenal Fatigue To Do Keto And IF?

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Are keto and menopause your thing now and you’re wondering if doing the diet with intermittent fasting (IF) is safe? Let me enlighten you about what is the real deal to free you of any confusion.

RELATED: Is Intermittent Fasting Okay For Adrenal Fatigue

In this article:

1. The Confusion About Following Keto and IF Among Menopausal Women with Adrenal Fatigue
2. The Adrenal Glands Take Over the Ovary as You Get Older
3. How Adrenal Problems Hinder Your Weight Loss Journey
4. Tips to Remember with Keto and Menopause
5. You May Experience Losing and Not Losing Weight
6. The Healthy Keto Plan Book

What You Should Know About Keto and Menopause

Is it safe for menopausal women with adrenal fatigue to do the low-carb ketogenic diet and IF? There is some confusion about keto and menopause. There are beliefs that doing keto and IF if you have menopausal symptoms and adrenal fatigue is dangerous. Some may recommend not doing the low-carb diet or IF if you have stressed adrenals, especially if you are going through menopause. But, it is the exact thing you need to do, only you need to do keto for menopause correctly.

Adrenal Fatigue Definition: A group of non-specific symptoms like digestive problems, sleep disturbances, fatigue, and aches as a result of the overworked adrenal glands. 

I think the problem with this is when you get into your 40s, 50s, or even 60s, the adrenal glands take over the ovaries so you put more stress on them. You may have a harder time countering the drop in blood sugar levels as you go longer between meals in doing IF. The blood sugar levels cannot rebound as it should, so you feel dizzy and weak.

Every time you eat and feel good after, you realize you need to be eating more frequently because it feels better. This isn’t right, though. This just means you need to strengthen the adrenal glands and tweak some things. I want to discuss the main issue with the keto diet and menopause in the following section. 

With adrenal fatigue, you are going to have higher cortisol levels. Another name for cortisol is glucocorticoid, which means it is a glucose-releasing hormone. When cortisol is high, you are going to release more blood glucose, or sugar, which increases insulin levels. Adrenal problems, in general, provide higher levels of insulin in the body. This is what we are trying to fix because the insulin creates insulin resistance and keeps people from losing weight. 

RELATED: A Quick Test For Adrenal Fatigue

1. Start with Three Meals a Day Without Snacks in Between Meals 

If you are trying to lose weight, you're in a menopausal stage, and you are stuck, you need to follow the high-fat diet and IF program, but you need to do it more gradually. You can start with three meals a day for a period of time and avoid snacking. Once you get used to three meals a day, proceed to the next level and try to push your breakfast later in the day until you can do two meals a day. You need to extend your patience because it may take months for you to get to this point. 

2. Take the Right Nutrients

Make sure you take the right nutrients with keto and menopause, so you stay healthy. Consume enough potassium (electrolytes), vitamin B1 (nutritional yeast), fat, sea salt, and plant-based trace minerals. I recommend taking four tablespoons of nutritional yeast or take it in a tablet form, so you can get your B vitamins. 

Add more fat and sea salt to your diet because the adrenal glands need the minerals in the salt. I suggest adding some plant-based trace minerals because these contain zinc and chromium that are important in helping you transition to ketosis faster. The goal of the ketogenic diet is to get you to fully adapt to ketosis, where you are burning fat, and everything is going fine. You are going to feel a lot better than before.

3. Consume More Protein and Omega-3 Fatty Acid

You may also need to consume more protein, so instead of eating six ounces of protein a day, do seven or eight ounces. Protein is necessary as you build your muscles. The omega-3 fatty acid is going to be important as well, especially if you are exercising or you have inflammation. I suggest getting that from krill, which is a good source of the fatty acid. A lot of fish oils go rancid unless you get it from cod liver oil, which is hard to find and expensive. Krill might be an easier option for you.

4. Take Long Walks Regularly

Take long walks instead of performing a high-intensity exercise, which may be too much for you. Long walks can help you improve mood, coordination, and balance, maintain a healthy weight, and strengthen your muscles and bones. Just remember to go slow so you don’t add too much pressure on your legs.

One common thing I want to highlight about keto and menopause is you might find you are losing weight at first and then not losing weight later on. That's probably because you are gaining more muscle mass, which adds to the weight. You are going to be shrinking but not necessarily losing weight at a certain point. Don't worry about that. Just go by your size and how your clothes fit. 

It may take time for you to get full control over your weight loss journey, but the tips I mentioned earlier are the things you need to do to ultimately correct things. You'll thank me down the road. 

In the book The Healthy Keto Plan (formerly The New Body Type Guide), I have a whole chapter about stress. People don't usually look at stress or adrenal problems as a factor of weight issues, but these are the big barriers to losing weight. If the cortisol is too high, you might have difficulties losing weight. 

Understanding keto and menopause requires knowledge about how the adrenal glands affect your body as you go into the menopausal stage. The adrenal effect may not be avoided, but you can always do something about it to correct things. So, follow my advice and achieve your body goals even at your menopausal stage with adrenal fatigue.

What difficulties or challenges did you experience in losing weight while experiencing menopause symptoms? Share your experience in the comments section below!

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Disclaimer: Our educational content is not meant or intended for medical advice or treatment.