If you’re experiencing menopause, then you probably remember a television commercial a few years back; (ok … maybe more than a few years back); that asked the burning question, “Who made the salad?” The family sat around the dinner table about to begin their meal. Someone would ask that all important question, and after everyone would look inquiringly at the rest of the family, the salad dressing that the commercial was promoting was then prominently displayed, and the happy little gathering would rejoice and begin eating. Typical family meal, right? Actually, my own family meal regularly mocked that commercial by asking “who made” whatever we were having.
We all laughed back then, but today it has been discovered that salads of all sorts can be the most nutritious part of the day. Certainly many have learned about the weight loss advantages it has when on a diet, but recently there’s been much more information that has been added to the benefits of eating salads, particularly when it comes to dealing with menopausal symptoms.
It’s probably not a surprise that many women are not enjoying the hot flashes, migraine headaches, sleepless or restless nights, moodiness, and all the other symptoms that go along with becoming older. Although some of those same symptoms are uncomfortable and recurring on a regular basis, generally women are not willing to take the hormone replacement therapies that doctors prescribe for them for fear of long-term side effects and cancer. Consequently, they are looking for other, more natural alternatives.
Reassessing what they’re eating and adding nutrients through food changes is certainly a good place to start. So what do salads have to do with menopause? More than you probably realize.
Without becoming technically boring and medically confusing, let’s find out what should go into a good salad to help with menopausal symptoms.
Remember all the things your mother told you about how healthy salad is for you. Unless you’ve developed a taste for them in your adulthood, her constant reminders are probably still ringing in your ears every time you walk past the produce section of your supermarket. You know you should be eating more salads, but in this day and age of working mothers, frozen food, microwaves, and “drive-throughs”, many women have neither learned nor have taken the initiative to begin eating healthier. If you’ve decided to adopt the attitude of ‘better late than never’, welcome to the ranks of all the aging baby boomers who have finally taken the plunge to eat wisely.
Of course you’ll want to start with the “green” parts as your salad base. Rather than using the nutritionally lacking iceberg lettuce however, use romaine, baby greens, red leaf, or spinach. Any of these can go far to give you the antioxidants, magnesium and iron that is so necessary to your optimum overall health. By adding fresh parsley, basil, and tarragon, you can boost your immune system tremendously and ward off any possible “uglies” just lurking around the corner waiting to attack.
Now add your other vegetables. Sure you can use the most popular vegetables like tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, and carrots, all of which are certainly good for you, but don’t limit yourself by stopping there. Be a little more creative by adding broccoli, cauliflower, artichokes, zucchini, or asparagus.
All vegetables have vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that carry benefits for everyone who eats them. What most don’t realize is that each of them has a unique combination of those vitamins and minerals that is not duplicated by other vegetables. What that means then is that each individual vegetable zeroes in on particular systems or organs. Eating a combination of varied vegetables at any given time increases the function of each of those targeted systems, including those that are associated with menopause.
Source : articlesbase
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