Discover
Six ways to stay healthy after menopause
Are you wondering how to maintain a healthy lifestyle for the post-menopause years? This is a natural stage in your life when you will not have had a period for at least a year. Here, I share six ways you can look after your body to stay healthy after menopause, and why they matter.
1. Keep your bones strong
Let’s start with bones! Our bone mass (how dense your bone is) starts to naturally decline from our forties onwards and may accelerate after reaching menopause. This, along with a drop in your level of oestrogen during and after the menopause, can increase your risk of osteoporosis (thinning of the bones). There are things you can do to help protect and strengthen your bone density. These include:
- getting plenty of calcium-rich foods in your diet and vitamin D (10 mcg per day) for healthy bones
- doing regular exercise, especially weight-bearing exercises to make your bones stronger, such as walking and jogging
- losing weight if you need to (see ‘manage weight gain’ section below)
- giving up smoking if you smoke and limiting how much alcohol you drink
- taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to replace your oestrogen. This is commonly used to protect your bones and reduce your risk of getting osteoporosis or heart disease. Your GP will discuss all the pros and cons of taking HRT with you
If you are worried about your bone mass, you may be able to have a density scan to measure bone strength.
2. Be active
Being physically active is one of the best ways of staying healthy after menopause and keeping your brain and body healthy into old age. It can also improve your feeling of wellbeing and mood.
If you are generally fit and have no health conditions that affect your mobility, aim to do at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity such as walking, golfing, swimming, or cycling every week. Or, to get the same benefits you could try 75 minutes of more intense aerobic activity such as aerobics, fast swimming, tennis or jogging.
Do these alongside strengthening exercises that work all the major muscles on at least two days a week.
3. Manage weight gain
Some people may gain weight after the menopause. This weight gain can be caused by your metabolism slowing down as you go through the menopause. You may also not be as active as when you were younger or have such a healthy diet. But, being overweight can increase your risk of health problems, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
If you’re overweight the best way to lose weight is to have a healthy, balanced diet, as well as being more active.
4. Sex after menopause
Knowing that you can’t get pregnant after the menopause can feel very liberating. But, if you’re having unprotected vaginal, anal or oral sex with new partners there is still a risk of getting a sexually transmitted infection (STI). After menopause, your vagina may be thinner and drier, which also can increase your risk of catching an STI during sex. Practice safer sex by using condoms to reduce your chances of catching or passing on STIs.
If you are in a new relationship you might also want to consider getting tested for STIs before having sex without a condom. If you think you have an STI, speak to your GP or visit a sexual health clinic as soon as possible.
5. Look after your sleep
Since the menopause you may be experiencing a poorer quality of sleep. Sleeping well is an essential part of looking after your health, both mentally and physically. As well as boosting your emotional wellbeing, it can help to lower your risk of developing high blood pressure, diabetes and coronary heart disease.
In general adults need about seven to nine hours each night. For lots of helpful tips and advice on how to improve your sleep, visit our information on how to get a good night’s sleep.
6. Focus on the positives
Reaching the menopause is a time of change for your body, and it’s easy to focus on what is lost. But, research shows that people who take an optimistic outlook in response to changes tend to deal with them better. This could be the start of a new and exciting chapter in your life when your mood settles, your memory improves again, and you feel more self-confident.
It also means you no longer have to worry about menstrual pain or heavy cycles.
Are you interested in learning more about your health? Discover more about our range of health assessments.
-
Sources
- Menopause. Aetiology. BMJ Best Practice. www.bestpractice.bmj.com, last reviewed March 2020
- Osteoporosis – prevention of fragility fractures. Causes. NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries. www.cks.nice.org.uk, last revised July 2016
- FSRH guideline. Contraception for women aged over 40 years. Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare. www.fsrh.org, amended September 2019
- The eatwell guide. Public Health England. www.assets.publishing.service.gov.uk, published September 2018
- Overview of vitamins. Table: sources, functions and effects of vitamins. MSD Manual. www.msdmanuals.com, last full review/revision August 2019
- Osteoporosis. Prevention. BMJ Best Practice. www.bestpractice.bmj.com, last reviewed June 2018
- National Institutes of Health (NIH). Exercises for your bone health. www.bones.nih.gov, last reviewed 2015
- Menopause and its management. Patient. www.patient.info, last edited 29 January 2018
- Obesity. What are the complications? Nice Clinical Knowledge Summaries. www.cks.nice.org.uk, last revised December 2017
- Oxford handbook of nutrition and dietetics. Nutrition support. Undernutrition. Oxford Medicine Online. www.oxfordmedicine.com, published online April 2020
- Obesity: identification, assessment and management. 1.4. Lifestyle interventions. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), November 2014. www.nice.org.uk, accessed October 2020
- Healthy weight loss. Dietary tips for healthy weight loss. British Nutrition Foundation. www.nutrition.org.uk, last revised 19 October 2016
- Healthy living. Diet. Oxford handbook of general practice. Oxford Medicine Online. www.oxfordmedicine.com, published April 2014
- Energy intake and expenditure. British Nutrition Foundation. www.nutrition.org.uk, accessed 30 November 2017
- Exercise interventions for cognitive function in adults older than 50: a systematic review with meta-analysis. BMJ. Northey JM, et al. Br J Sports Med 2018;52:154–160. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096587
- Physical activity guidelines for older adults. NHS UK. www.nhs.uk
- UK physical activity guidelines. GOV.UK. Physical activity guidelines for adults (19-64 years). GOV.UK, assets.www.publishing.service.gov.uk, accessed October 2020
- A BASHH Guide to Safer Sex. British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH). www.bashh.org, accessed October 2020
- Menopause: Diagnosis and management. Guidance. Recommendations. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice). www.nice.org.uk, updated 5 December 2019
- Menopause and sleep. Sleep Foundation. Sleepfoundation.org. www.sleepfoundation.org, accessed October 2020
- Sleeping well Royal College of Psychiatrists. www.rcpsych.ac.uk, updated September 2015
- Watson Nf Badr Ms Belenky G Et Al. Recommended amount of sleep for a healthy adult: A joint consensus statement of the american academy of sleep medicine and sleep research society. Sleep 2015; 38(6):843-4.
- Kleiman EM, Chiara AM, Liu RT, et al. Optimism and well-being: a prospective multi-method and multi-dimensional examination of optimism as a resilience factor following the occurrence of stressful life events. Cogn Emot 2017; 31(2):269-283. doi:10.1080/02699931.2015.1108284
Health information
At Bupa we produce a wealth of free health information for you and your family. We believe that trustworthy information is essential in helping you make better decisions about your health and care.
Our latest articles
Legal disclaimer
This information was published by Bupa's Health Content Team and is based on reputable sources of medical evidence. It has been reviewed by appropriate medical or clinical professionals and deemed accurate on the date of review. Photos are only for illustrative purposes and do not reflect every presentation of a condition.
Any information about a treatment or procedure is generic, and does not necessarily describe that treatment or procedure as delivered by Bupa or its associated providers.
The information contained on this page and in any third party websites referred to on this page is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice nor is it intended to be for medical diagnosis or treatment. Third party websites are not owned or controlled by Bupa and any individual may be able to access and post messages on them. Bupa is not responsible for the content or availability of these third party websites. We do not accept advertising on this page.
For more details on how we produce our content and its sources, visit the 'About our health information' section.
^We may record or monitor our calls
