If you’ve been wondering what’s the best anti-inflammatory diet that actually works for women in their 50s and 60s around menopause then this is the guide for you.
Chances are, you’ve already tried the usual stuff. Cutting calories. Doing more cardio. Eating “healthy.” But step on the scales at the end of the week and see zero movement (or maybe even be heavier than before).
Plus, your body and joints are aching all over. You might be wondering if it’s just a normal part of menopause, due to excessive inflammation, carrying some extra weight or a combination of all the above.
If you’re not seeing physical results it can be very hard to stay motivated to keep making good food choices that could help minimise inflammation and pain.
That’s what leaves so many women stuck and choosing clothes to cover up problem areas, rather than wearing what they love. Staring at a wardrobe full of amazing outfits they no longer feel confident in. Dreading summer holidays and beachwear. And thinking that maybe this is just part of the ageing process they have to give in to.
But that’s not the case…
What’s really happening is this: as women go through menopause, their hormones begin to shift. Oestrogen drops. Cortisol (the stress hormone) rises. This can lead to more inflammation, not only causing you to have more fatigue, aches and pains, but it also makes it easier to gain weight around the middle.
But when you understand what food to eat in menopause, foods that reduce inflammation and rebalance your hormones, you can see the weight start to come off quickly and reduce, if not eliminate, many menopause symptoms! Many women following this approach report more energy, fewer symptoms and less bloating within their first 4 weeks and go on to drop 1–2 dress sizes or 15–25 pounds in just 12 weeks.
In this guide, we’ll talk through the best anti-inflammatory diet for women around menopause. Which foods can make menopause symptoms worse, and how to adjust your nutrition to suit your changing hormones.
What Happens During Menopause
Let’s start with what’s going on inside the body.
During menopause, oestrogen levels start to decline. This hormone plays a role in everything from metabolism and fat storage to mood regulation and bone health. With less oestrogen, your body stores fat more easily — especially around the middle — and burns fewer calories.
You might also notice more joint pain, mood swings, hot flushes, and sleep problems. This is because oestrogen is a natural anti-inflammatory and joint lubricant. It also helps to regulate your body’s temperature via your hypothalamus, a part of your brain that works like your body’s thermostat.
Oestrogen also helps to regulate cortisol, the main stress hormone. When oestrogen drops through perimenopause, you become more sensitive to stress from all sources, whether that’s lifestyle, extreme exercise or starvation dieting.
When cortisol is high, it can trigger the “Weight Gain Triangle”. These are three knock-on hormonal changes making it harder to lose weight and easier to gain it. These changes are: leptin resistance (which makes you feel hungrier), insulin resistance (which encourages fat storage around the middle), and thyroid deregulation (which slows your metabolism).
Looking at the realities of everyday life for working women in their 40s, 50s and 60s — back-to-back meetings, never ending emails, a huge to-do list and looking after children and/or ageing parents — and it’s no wonder cortisol levels are through the roof for so many women during menopause.
That’s why the answer isn’t to work harder. To starve yourself or punish your body in yet another gym class. It’s to work smarter, and it all begins with what you eat.
How Dietary Changes Can Reduce Inflammation & Improve Long-Term Health
Menopause isn’t just about hot flushes or mood swings — it marks a turning point in a woman’s health that can affect the rest of her life. Hormonal changes during this time can increase the risk of several serious health conditions. But the right diet can help reduce those risks and support long-term wellbeing.
Inflammation and Chronic Disease Risk
Chronic inflammation is at the root of many health problems — from arthritis and joint pain to heart disease and cognitive decline. During menopause, the body becomes more prone to inflammation due to hormonal shifts and stress.
That’s why following the best anti-inflammatory diet in menopause isn’t just about losing weight — it’s about protecting your future.
Cutting out inflammatory foods, focusing on whole, nutrient-dense meals, and managing stress through better movement and hydration all help reduce inflammation across the body.
This not only improves how you feel now — with better energy levels, fewer aches and pains, and improved mood — but also gives you the best possible chance at staying healthy, strong, and independent later in life.
Bone Health
One of the biggest concerns during and after menopause is bone loss.
Women lose an average of 4.4% of their bone mass every year between the ages of 50 and 54. This means you could lose 25% of your bone density in 5 years alone! This is due to the drop in oestrogen, which plays a key role in keeping bones strong.
Without the right diet, this can lead to osteoporosis, fractures, and serious mobility problems and increased mortality risk (i.e. risk of death post fracture).
Eating a diet rich in calcium, protein, and plant-based nutrients helps protect bone density. Leafy greens, fortified plant milks, almonds, seeds, plus resistance-based exercise like Low Impact Strength Training (LIST) are all essential to help your body maintain bone strength as you age.
Heart Health
Menopause increases the risk of cardiovascular disease which is the leading cause of death for women over 50.
Falling oestrogen levels can lead to higher blood pressure, increased cholesterol, and more fat stored around the middle. Combined with stress and lifestyle changes, this puts the heart under more strain.
Following an anti-inflammatory diet, such as a modified version of the mediterranean diet, as well as maintaining a healthy weight and regular exercise helps ensure good heart health. This includes eating lots of vegetables, healthy fats like olive oil, fatty fish, whole grains, and nuts, all of which reduce inflammation and support healthy blood flow.
Harvard Health and Harvard Medical School both recommend this approach to help reduce the risk of heart disease as we age.
Blood Sugar and Type 2 Diabetes
Insulin sensitivity drops with age, especially around menopause. This means your body finds it harder to manage blood sugar — and any spikes from processed carbs or sugary foods can lead to fat gain, cravings, and increased diabetes risk.
If your waistline has been expanding, even when your eating habits haven’t changed, this could be why.
The best way to manage this is to cut back on sugar and refined carbs, eat more fibre, and build meals around protein and healthy fats. This keeps blood sugar stable and supports consistent energy throughout the day.
Building more muscle through Low Impact Strength Training (LIST) also helps improve insulin sensitivity, meaning your body can tolerate more carbohydrates, meaning you don’t have to miss out on your favourite foods and can still maintain a healthy weight.
By keeping inflammation low and supporting metabolic health, these changes can significantly lower your chances of developing type 2 diabetes.
How to Adjust Your Diet for Menopause
One of the first things we recommend inside our Fit Over 40 programme is a “Diet Makeover.”
This means cutting out the four food groups that we’ve seen consistently stall results and cause signs of increased inflammation in women going through menopause. We call these the WADS foods — Wheat, Alcohol, Dairy, and Sugar.
All four can be pro-inflammatory foods. They mess with digestion, blood sugar, and hormone balance. They also tend to creep into the diet more during the summer — think bread baskets on holiday, wine in the evenings, cheese boards, desserts. They’re calorie-dense and they can make menopause symptoms worse, such as hot flushes, night sweats, joint aches, mood swings and cravings.
When you cut these out, even for just two weeks, your body gets a much-needed reset. Cravings calm down, inflammation reduces, and weight loss can finally begin.
It’s like trying to use a slow, glitchy computer. You can’t just keep clicking harder. You need to reset the system. That’s exactly what removing WADS foods does.
“Breaking the sugar habit was hard. Consistent encouragement and re-education from my coach Laura helped me to control what sugar I consume rather than it controlling me. Especially regarding replacing sleep with sugar. Since Trinity I have lost 3 dress sizes, from squeezing in to size 18 trousers to a size 12. I no longer believe myself to be a sugar-holic. I can honestly say this decision has been life changing.”
– Hayley Jackson, Trinity Client
The Best Anti-Inflammatory Diet for Menopause
The Mediterranean Diet is often named the best anti-inflammatory diet in publications like Harvard Health Publishing and backed by studies from Harvard Medical School. And for good reason.
It focuses on fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, healthy fats, and lean proteins — all foods that help fight chronic inflammation, support heart health, and promote sustainable weight loss.
But for women in menopause, it works best with a few key tweaks.
Firstly, protein needs to be a major priority. Most women we work with are eating less than half the amount of protein their body actually needs around menopause – protein requirement increases with age, especially through menopause.
This is a big problem. As you age, without enough protein and consistent strength training, your body will lose muscle, which slows your metabolism.
Protein is an essential nutrient needed to maintain muscle. Without enough protein, you’ll struggle to retain strength, tone, fight cravings, or burn fat efficiently.
Protein is also more filling than carbs or fat. It digests slowly and triggers the release of a hormone called Peptide Y:Y, which signals to your body that you’re full. When your protein intake is high, it’s far easier to avoid snacking, manage portions, and stay in a slight calorie deficit that leads to sustainable fat loss.
You also want to eat more fibre. Processed foods, which are low in fibre, contribute to bloating, sluggish digestion and cravings. High-fibre foods like vegetables, berries, beans, and whole grains keep your gut microbiome healthy and keep you full for longer.
Lastly, you’ll want to avoid alcohol, as it’s a toxin. Despite what many news articles say, there are no direct health benefits to drinking alcohol. During menopause the body’s tolerance for alcohol reduces significantly, and it’ll cause more inflammation, broken sleep and night sweats.
If you’re not seeing results despite eating what seems like “healthy food,” it’s often because there’s not enough fibre or protein in your meals, and too many calories coming from processed or inflammatory foods and drinks.
Anti-Inflammatory Foods to Help Menopause Symptoms
When you’re considering what food to eat in menopause, you want to focus on foods that reduce inflammation, balance blood sugar, and support your hormone health.
Here are some of the top anti-inflammatory foods to include:
- Fatty fish like salmon, sardines, and mackerel — rich in omega-3s which help with joint pain, heart health, and inflammation.
- Leafy greens such as spinach, kale, and rocket — full of antioxidants and fibre.
- Berries — a great source of antioxidants that help fight inflammation and protect cells.
- Whole grains like oats, brown rice, and quinoa — these stabilise blood sugar and aid digestion.
- Nuts and seeds — great for healthy fats and hormone balance.
- Extra virgin olive oil — one of the most powerful anti-inflammatory fats you can eat (note: you want extra-virgin if possible, as this means it’s been processed without heat and will have the most health benefits).
These foods make up the foundation of a healthy, anti-inflammatory diet and are ideal for women navigating the hormonal shifts of menopause.
“Before Trinity I drank a glass of wine a day and ate chocolate regularly to rid myself of the boredom and stress – to ‘treat’ myself. I didn’t feel very attractive and stopped wanting to be intimate with my partner as I didn’t think he’d fancy the blobby body I had developed. After joining Trinity I was relieved to learn that I COULD kick sugar & alcohol and that it did not control me. I went WADS free for 6 weeks as a result and have re-done that again every so often. In September I hit my target weight of 9st 10 and I went down another dress size too – and I look great”.
– Jo McClements, Trinity Client
Types of Foods That Can Make Menopause Worse
On the flip side, there are certain foods that can cause more harm than good at this stage of life.
Processed foods are high on the list. These tend to be high in refined sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats, all of which contribute to inflammation and weight gain. They also offer very little nutritional value, leaving you hungrier sooner.
- Refined carbs, like bread, pasta, biscuits and pastries. These can all spike your blood sugar and lead to energy crashes and cravings later in the day.
- Alcohol deserves a special mention. Your body becomes more sensitive to it during menopause. It’s loaded with empty calories, disrupts sleep, increases appetite, and slows down fat burning. A bottle of wine has over 600 calories and usually leads to extra snacking as well.
- Sugary drinks, even those that seem healthy like orange juice or fancy coffee shop lattes are loaded with sugar. They often contain hundreds of hidden calories and as much sugar (or more) than a chocolate bar, increasing inflammation and making menopause symptoms much worse.
If you’re eating well, working out, and still not seeing any changes in your weight or how your clothes fit, take a close look at what you’re drinking. Swapping to water, herbal teas or a good-quality black coffee can make a much bigger difference than you might think.
Tips to Improve Your Diet in Menopause
Making changes to your diet during menopause doesn’t need to be overwhelming. In fact, small, simple shifts can lead to big results when they’re focused on what your body actually needs at this stage of life.
Here are some key areas to focus on when you’re choosing what food to eat in menopause.
1. Increase Protein Intake
One of the biggest game changers for women in menopause is eating more protein. Most women we work with at Trinity are eating less than half their body’s needs when they start with us.
As you go through menopause, your body starts to lose muscle mass — which slows down your metabolism and decreases insulin sensitivity. This makes it easier to gain weight, even if your food and exercise habits haven’t changed.
Protein helps maintain lean muscle, supports fat loss, and keeps you feeling full. It also helps manage cravings by releasing hormones like Peptide Y:Y, which signals to your body that you’re satisfied.
Aim to include at least 25g of protein at each meal, including breakfast. This alone can make a huge difference to how your body looks and feels.
2. Prioritise Fibre
Fibre plays a vital role in digestion, hormone balance, and gut health. It keeps you full, helps stabilise blood sugar, and reduces cravings — which is essential if you want to lose weight and feel better day to day. Improving gut health also tends to reduce inflammation.
Processed and low-calorie “diet” foods often lack fibre, leading to constant hunger and energy crashes. That’s why it’s important to fill your meals with vegetables, legumes, fruits, and whole grains.
Aim to eat a wide variety of plants throughout the week, ideally 30 different types. This includes not just fruit and veg, but also herbs, seeds, nuts, and spices.
3. Cut Out Inflammatory Foods
Menopause increases the body’s sensitivity to foods that trigger inflammation. That’s why we recommend doing a “Diet Makeover” to cut out the four main inflammatory foods we call the WADS foods — Wheat, Alcohol, Dairy, and Sugar.
As we mentioned, these foods often lead to bloating, fatigue, joint pain, hot flushes, and stubborn weight gain — especially around the middle.
Due to hormonal changes new food intolerances are not uncommon around menopause. Many women develop intolerances to wheat or dairy (sometimes both!), and continuing to consume these regularly will increase inflammation.
Eliminating them for just 1–2 weeks can help reset your body, reduce chronic inflammation, and help you start to feel like yourself again. After that, keeping them to a minimum (about 80% avoidance) makes it easier to stay on track long-term.
4. Stay Hydrated
Water is one of the simplest and most effective tools for improving your diet, but it’s often overlooked.
During menopause, it’s common to experience bloating and water retention, especially after travel or eating saltier meals. Drinking more water helps flush this out, supports digestion, and even helps the body burn fat more efficiently.
Start the day with a big glass of water, have one with each meal, and carry a water bottle with you to stay hydrated throughout the day.
5. Move More Without Overdoing It
While workouts are important, general movement is also very effective when it comes to fat loss during menopause, as it helps to burn some extra calories without over stressing the body like more intense exercise.
If you’re sitting most of the day, at a desk, in meetings, or in the car — you’ll barely be burning any calories. What most people don’t realise is that walking and light movement throughout the day burns a lot of calories – often much more energy than a 30-minute high-intensity workout.
Aim for at least 5,000–10,000 steps per day. This gentle form of exercise is ideal for keeping stress on the body low and managing inflammation while encouraging steady, sustainable fat loss.
Why Most Diets Stop Working After 40
Here’s the harsh truth, most diets are designed for younger bodies with very different hormonal profiles.
They rely on eating very little, pushing through hunger, and exercising hard. But around menopause, these methods backfire.
Starvation diets raise cortisol, which makes your body hold onto fat, particularly around the middle. They also spike stress levels, which are already elevated in many women juggling work, family, and personal responsibilities.
When cortisol stays high for too long, it disrupts three key systems: leptin, insulin, and the thyroid. This makes you hungrier, more prone to fat storage around the middle, and slows down your metabolism, creating a perfect storm for menopause weight gain.
That’s why inside our Fit Over 40 coaching programme, we use a method called Hormonally Balanced Eating. We help our clients find a nutrition sweet spot — high enough to keep hormones stable and avoid cravings, but low enough for consistent fat loss.
You Don’t Have to Accept Weight Gain as “Part of Ageing”
If you’ve tried what feels like everything: gym classes, HIIT, spinning, fasting, keto, shakes, calorie-counting and cutting carbs, and nothing seems to work anymore, the problem isn’t your willpower.
It’s that your body needs a different approach now.
Once you cut out the foods causing inflammation and focus on eating enough protein, fibre and healthy fats, your body will start to respond quickly. You’ll feel lighter, have more energy, and your clothes will start to fit better, without needing to starve yourself or live in the gym.
Take the Next Step Towards a Healthier, Stronger You
If you’ve been doing “all the right things” but still can’t lose weight, the problem isn’t you, it’s that your body has changed, and your approach needs to change with it.
This is where Trinity comes in.
We don’t offer generic plans or one-size-fits-all advice. Our Fit Over 40 coaching is tailored specifically for women navigating perimenopause and menopause.
We teach you exactly what food to eat in menopause and we work closely with you to create a diet and exercise approach that suits your lifestyle, your hormones and your goals, without starvation, stress or extreme workouts.
With over 7,000 women coached and a 97% success rate, we’ve seen what works and know how to achieve a lasting transformation.
When you join Trinity, here’s what you’ll get:
- A personalised nutrition plan tailored to your body, lifestyle, and hormonal situation
- Expert support from a dedicated 1-1 coach who specialises in helping women over 40
- Weekly check-ins for accountability and support
- A step-by-step system to reduce inflammation, improve energy and accelerate fat loss
- Time-efficient Low Impact Strength Training (LIST) workouts designed to work with your body, not against it (both home & gym options)
- A supportive community of successful women who don’t want to just give into the aging process
- Tools to help manage stress, improve sleep and balance your hormones naturally
- Ongoing education and guidance so you know why it works and how to sustain your results
Whether your goal is to fit back into your favourite jeans, feel confident on holiday, or simply stop the cycle of trying hard and seeing no change, we can help.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should be the diet to stay healthy after menopause?
After menopause, a balanced diet rich in whole foods, lean protein, healthy fats, and fibre is essential. Prioritise anti-inflammatory foods like leafy greens, berries, fatty fish, nuts, and olive oil to support heart health, bone strength, and hormone balance.
What are good foods to eat during menopause?
Great foods for menopause include lean protein sources, and foods high in omega-3 such as salmon, flaxseeds, leafy greens, whole grains and berries. These help regulate hormones, improve digestion, and reduce hot flashes and inflammation.
What superfoods are good for menopause belly?
Superfoods that are claimed to target menopause belly include chia seeds, avocado, turmeric, green tea, and blueberries. Whilst these can have a minor impact on inflammation, stabilise blood sugar, and support fat metabolism, especially around the midsection, it’s more important to avoid inflammatory foods and get enough protein and fibre than worry about specific foods.
Which fruit is best for menopause?
Berries, especially blueberries and strawberries, are among the best fruits for menopause due to their high antioxidant and fibre content, as well as being relatively low in calories, so you can eat plenty of them without risking overdoing it and gaining weight.
