Abstract
Among the various aspects of health promotion and lifestyle adaptation to the postmenopausal period, nutritional habits are essential because they concern all women, can be modified, and impact both longevity and quality of life. In this narrative review, we discuss the current evidence on the association between dietary patterns and clinical endpoints in postmenopausal women, such as body composition, bone mass, and risk markers for cardiovascular disease. Current evidence suggests that low-fat, plant-based diets are associated with beneficial effects on body composition, but further studies are needed to confirm these results in postmenopausal women. The Mediterranean diet pattern along with other healthy habits may help the primary prevention of bone, metabolic, and cardiovascular diseases in the postmenopausal period. It consists on the use of healthy foods that have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, and is associated with a small but significant decrease in blood pressure, reduction of fat mass, and improvement in cholesterol levels. These effects remain to be evaluated over a longer period of time, with the assessment of hard outcomes such as bone fractures, diabetes, and coronary ischemia.
Highlights
Menopause is literally the ceasing of menstruation, but a broader definition includes “the permanent cessation of menstrual cycles following the loss of ovarian follicular activity” [1]
In the menopausal transition, lowering estrogen levels have been associated with loss of lean body mass (LBM) and increase in fat mass (FM) [13,14]
The decrease in bone mineral density (BMD) that accompanies aging is related to declining reproductive hormone concentrations [50,51]
Summary
Menopause is literally the ceasing of menstruation, but a broader definition includes “the permanent cessation of menstrual cycles following the loss of ovarian follicular activity” [1]. Recent data from a large population-based cohort in the United States [7] reinforced the idea that weight gain is related to the menopause transition, even though the fat mass increases rapidly in this phase. In this sense, a population-based study that we conducted in southern Brazil showed that sedentariness rather than menopause is associated with a two-fold increased risk of overweight/obesity [8]. All articles published up to February 2021 were considered for eligibility
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