Top 3 Foods to Reduce Hot Flashes and Night Sweats

Are you running out from a family dinner because it feels like your body is a million degrees? Or waking up feeling like you've showered in your own sweat? Hot flashes and night sweats affect up to 75% of menopausal women. But never fear, you can say goodbye to them forever with the right food choices.

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Banana

There are many fruits that are excellent for hot flashes and mood swings, but this one has it all. If you have a sweet tooth or want to start the day off with something small, bananas have three natural sugars; fructose, glucose, and sucrose. This balanced sugar content provides the body energy at a steady rate, whereas sugars found in processed food (e.g., cookies, ice cream, and candy) bring on energy quickly and can initiate hot flashes or night sweats.

Bananas also have low sodium content and extremely high potassium, which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acknowledges can reduce blood pressure. Hot flashes and night sweats, characterized by increased heart rate, can be made worse with high blood pressure.

In addition, for centuries women from Southeast Asia have consumed bananas to give their body a cool feeling and aid stress relief. The potassium can greatly reduce the anxiety associated with hot flashes and night sweats. They provide the blood with more oxygen, which helps breathing and normalizes blood flow. They also slow the heart and metabolic rates to keep you from panicking or feeling dizzy.

Flax

Flaxseeds contain an extremely high content of phytoestrogens. Much of the cause for hot flashes is due to the decreased levels of estrogen and progesterone which can increase anxiety and throw your body's temperature off balance. The phytoestrogens are received as estrogen and can be a great substitute when your levels slump. Consuming flaxseeds in a salad or cereal will help regulate your hormones.

Flax also contains omega-3 and omega-6 which reduces the risk of breast cancer, heart attack, and is an anti-inflammatory. It can slow the heart rate and breathing.

Research has found that women who consume flax reported a 50% decrease in the amount of hot flashes they has as well as reduced sweating.

Spinach

Spinach has you covered in the vegetable arena for hot flashes. The rich magnesium, vitamin E, and vitamin K content will have you cool, dry, and collected.

The body needs vitamin E during menopause. A recent placebo-controlled study showed that women who incorporated extra vitamin E into their diets were more likely to see their hot flashes decrease or disappear in the coming month. However, among the control group, who took no extra vitamin E, hot flashes continued as they were.

In 2010 it was found that getting sufficient levels of magnesium every day can reduce hot flashes and night sweats by at least 50%, but usually more.

Hot flashes and night sweats can be much worse if you are overweight. However, vitamin K in spinach reduces hormonal weight gain and helps you lose unwanted fat. It's a healthy and beneficial addition to your diet.

A flax-topped breakfast, a banana snack, and a spinach dinner is the ideal menu for getting rid of hot flashes and night sweats. Try incorporating these foods every day and you'll notice a decrease in the duration, intensity, and frequency of your menopause symptoms.