Should You Intermittent Fast During Menopause? A Hormone Expert Explains

Intermittent fasting has become one of the most popular eating practices and is associated with a variety of potential health benefits from improved gut health to longevity. 

It involves skipping food for the majority of the day and eating all your meals in a shortened time frame.

Intermittent fasting is great for a lot of people—but what if you're menopausal or perimenopausal? Will fasting still work for you? Is it even safe during this time?

As an integrative physician, I've spent the last decade working with thousands of patients, many of whom were women going through menopause.

Here's a brief look at how menopause changes your body and how intermittent fasting might help with many of the common symptoms. 

Menopause is the natural decline in sex hormones that happens as women reach their 40s and 50s.

During this time, the ovaries stop producing estrogen and progesterone, which, in turn, stops menstruation.

You've officially reached menopause when you haven't had your period for 12 months. However, amenorrhea, the loss of the period, is not the only symptom of menopause.

Menopause comes with a variety of symptoms1, including:

And, most notable for many, menopause also causes changes to the metabolism2. Typically, the metabolism slows down during menopause because estrogen and progesterone levels fall out of balance. The sudden hormonal shift causes many women to gain weight. 

You may also become less sensitive to insulin3 during menopause, meaning you have trouble processing sugar and refined carbohydrates—a metabolic change called insulin resistance. Although further research is needed, insulin resistance may be associated with fatigue and trouble sleeping4. 

You may feel like you don't understand your body as well as you used to during menopause, and symptoms, like sudden weight gain, can cause you to feel anxious and depressed. 

The good news is that intermittent fasting is an ideal tool to help you through menopause. If you’re struggling with weight gain, fatigue, and/or insulin resistance during menopause, you may want to consider giving it a try. 

RELATED: Menopause & Adrenal Fatigue: 5 Tips To Ease Symptoms

In short: yes. Intermittent fasting can help with several symptoms of menopause, including:

Weight gain: Studies5 have found that intermittent fasting may help with weight loss6, and many people find it's a good long-term strategy for keeping off undesirable weight.

Insulin resistance: Fasting increases insulin sensitivity7, which makes your body better at processing sugar and carbohydrates, and may reduce your risk of certain metabolic diseases. 

Mental health changes: Menopause has been shown to cause anxiety, depression, fatigue, brain fog, mood swings, and psychological stress. Studies have found that fasting has a positive influence on an individual's self-esteem, may help with depression and stress levels8, and may encourage overall positive psychological shifts9. 

Sleep quality: Research10 shows that intermittent fasting can promote the quality of sleep in as little as one week.

Intermittent fasting is quite simple to do. You pick an eating window that works for you—say, from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.—and you eat all your calories in that time frame.

Outside of your eating window, you fast—just water and noncaloric drinks like coffee or tea. In other words, you're fasting for 16 hours every day, and eating for eight hours every day. That's called a 16:8 fast, and it is one of the most basic intermittent fasting structures.

The nice thing about intermittent fasting is that it's flexible. Many people start with shorter fasts (14:10 fasts are popular, 14 hours fasting, 10 eating) and gradually increase their fast length.

Some people go all the way to eating only one meal a day. You can play with different fasting schedules and see what feels best for you. 

Intermittent fasting is a great tool for managing weight, insulin resistance, and other common symptoms of menopause. 

That said, there are some people who may not want to try intermittent fasting.

Intermittent fasting puts mild stress on your body, so if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have a history of an eating disorder, you'll want to avoid incorporating intermittent fasting into your daily routine. 

If you decide to give intermittent fasting a try, pay attention to how you feel. If fasting makes you feel too stressed, or if you feel weak or ill during fasting, you may want to either shorten your fast or skip intermittent fasting entirely.

Keep in mind that you don't have to fast every day, either. You can always fast every other day or even just a couple of times a week. 

Menopause can be a challenging time, but with the right diet and lifestyle changes, you can stay fit, happy, and healthy, even as your hormones change.

Read up on common myths about menopause and blood sugar balance during menopause for more tools to help you look and feel your best. 

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on November 15, 2019. A previous version of this article indicated that fasting can decrease your risk for certain metabolic diseases. We have since clarified that statement to show that fasting can help regulate the way your body processes sugar, which may reduce the risk of certain diseases.