4 Foods to Help Ease Menopause Symptoms — and 4 to Avoid

Diet alone can’t get rid of all your symptoms, but experts say adding a few foods — and steering clear of others — may improve how you feel

Rachel Nania,

AARP

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En español

Published May 30, 2025

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AARP

Hot flashes, insomnia, night sweats and mood swings. These uncomfortable symptoms are just a few in a long list of changes that women can experience when they go through menopause, and a recent AARP report shows women are trying a variety of medical and nonmedical treatments to rein them in.

Among the most popular approaches is a change in diet. Nearly 30 percent of women surveyed by AARP said they started eating differently to help ease common menopause symptoms — and research suggests this is a good move for many.

“What you eat affects everything in your life,” says Mary Dolan, M.D., a professor in the department of gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine and a Menopause Society certified practitioner at Emory Healthcare. “It will definitely affect how you experience menopause.”

Not only can what you eat have an impact on the uncomfortable menopause symptoms you physically experience, like hot flashes, but your diet can also lead to other, more subtle changes, Dolan says.

Menopause is associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease and other chronic health conditions. “So it’s imperative to make lifestyle and dietary adjustments, not only for the symptoms that you’re feeling, but for these other things that you don’t feel,” Dolan says.

A change in diet is just one of many tools women can use to help with menopause symptoms, and health experts say it’s important to discuss your symptoms with a doctor to find the most effective treatment plan.

Foods that may help ease menopause symptoms

1. Fruit

A large study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that women who ate diets high in fruit, such as strawberries, pineapple, melon, apricots and mango, or who adhered to a Mediterranean-style diet — which emphasizes fruit and other plant-based foods — were about 20 percent less likely to experience hot flashes and night sweats than women with diets that lacked fruit and were higher in fat and sugar. Other observational research has also linked higher fruit and vegetable intake with fewer menopause symptoms.

While there isn’t a clear link to explain the association, researchers suggest that a low-fat, high-fiber diet may help stabilize estrogen and blood sugar levels and control inflammation.

“There is no best menopause diet, but we do tend to encourage a Mediterranean-style eating pattern” because it’s well-balanced, nutrient-dense and can be calorie-controlled, says Tara Schmidt, a registered dietitian and instructor of nutrition at the Mayo Clinic and the lead dietitian for the Mayo Clinic Diet. “There’s fruits and vegetables, with their fiber and their antioxidants; there’s going to be lean protein, including fish and plant-based sources; there’s going to be omega-3s; there’s going to be some calcium in there. So it’s a well-balanced diet that helps people get the nutrients that we care about in this stage of life.”

2. Soy

Victoria Maizes, M.D., executive director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and professor of medicine at the University of Arizona, recommends that women incorporate more soy into their diet during menopause.

Soybeans are rich in isoflavones, a type of plant estrogen that’s similar in its function to human estrogen but with weaker effects, according to Harvard’s Nutrition Source. Maizes points to a 2021 study that found a plant-based diet rich in soy significantly reduces hot flashes. In the randomized controlled trial, published in the journal Menopause, postmenopausal women who experienced hot flashes were randomly assigned to one of two groups: The first adhered to a low-fat, vegan diet, which included a half cup of cooked soybeans daily for 12 weeks; the second group made no diet changes. The researchers found that the women who adjusted their diet and included soybeans experienced significantly fewer and less severe hot flashes than the women who didn’t change their diet.

Soy may also help slow bone loss that many women experience during menopause, though some experts point out that more research is needed. An analysis of 18 randomized controlled trials, published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, found that a daily intake of roughly 106 milligrams (mg) of isoflavones (about two to three servings of soybeans or soy milk) for six to 24 months had a moderate but statistically significant effect on bone mineral density in menopausal women.

Maizes emphasizes the importance of eating minimally processed soy products, such as edamame, tofu and soy milk, and opting for organic if possible.

3. Dairy

The loss of estrogen during menopause accelerates bone loss, the Cleveland Clinic explains, but eating calcium-rich foods can help keep your bones healthy during this time.

According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, plain nonfat yogurt, skim milk and low-fat cheese are excellent sources of calcium. An added bonus with these foods: Dairy contains tryptophan, which some research suggests may help improve sleep disturbances that many women experience during menopause.

If you’re dairy-free or vegan, “you’ve got to get a lot of beans and green leafy vegetables” for calcium, Schmidt says.

According to the International Osteoporosis Foundation, white beans contain the most calcium, at 132 mg per serving. For vegetables, opt for collard greens, spinach, kale and broccoli. Other calcium-rich foods include tofu and almond milk.

4. Fatty fish

For some women, menopause can trigger depression or mood disorders. Schmidt says “there’s a little bit of evidence” connecting omega-3, like that found in fatty fish, with improved depression symptoms, though more research is needed. Foods high in omega-3 include salmon, tuna, mackerel, chia seeds, walnuts and edamame.

Due to their anti-inflammatory effects, foods rich in omega-3s may also help with joint pain, Maizes says. According to AARP’s survey, joint pain affects about one-third of women in menopause. These foods can also reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, which becomes more common in women after menopause.

Foods that can make menopause symptoms worse

1. Spicy foods

Spicy foods can make you feel hot even in the absence of a hot flash, Dolan says, so it’s no surprise that they can exacerbate hot flash symptoms.

2. Alcohol

Alcohol is another hot flash trigger. Alcohol can cause body temperature to rise, “which can trigger hot flashes as the blood vessels beneath the skin dilate to release heat,” according to University Hospitals.

What’s more, “alcohol is a huge sleep disruptor,” Schmidt says. “When someone consumes alcohol, they may fall asleep faster, but their quality of sleep is significantly negatively impacted.”

3. Caffeine

“Caffeine may have an effect on how someone experiences hot flashes and worsen them,” Dolan says. Indeed, a survey conducted by researchers at the Mayo Clinic and published in the journal Menopause found an association between caffeine intake and more severe hot flashes and night sweats.

Caffeine can also contribute to sleep troubles. “I do think that understanding your relationship to caffeine and how closely you can have it to bedtime” is important during menopause, Schmidt says.

4. Carbohydrates and starchy foods

You may want to cut down on carbs during the big change. “The way you metabolize carbohydrates and the starchy foods in perimenopause and menopause changes, and you can have these spikes of blood sugar that your body can’t regulate like it did before,” Dolan says. Prolonged spikes in blood sugar can lead to weight gain, which nearly half of the women surveyed by AARP reported experiencing during menopause.

The Cleveland Clinic suggests cutting foods like pasta, white bread, potatoes and rice to curb weight gain during menopause. Dolan also warns against many ultra-processed foods that are loaded with additives, such as fast or frozen meals and packaged snacks. Instead, opt for carbohydrates higher in fiber, such as whole grains and legumes.