Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: babyjane on August 28, 2014, 05:59:15 PM
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has anyone noticed if their tastes have changed since menopause. Foods I liked before I am no longer bothered about and I now eat things I didn't like before. I don't seem to want so much either, but prefer little and often to a big meal.
What are your best and worst foods? My favourits are shepherd's pie or fish pie with runner beans and gravy or beans on toast but it has to be with a cup of tea, and my worst is Pizza and chips. My best comfort food is custard.
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My meals are much smaller than they used to be. I eat toast at breakfast because I know I really need to have something. Lunch is a chore as I can't be bothered and am really not hungry. Dinner is medium sized. My tastes have changed too. I go for weeks not eating any meat then take a notion....a big juicy steak.
I eat mostly chicken and fish these days.
Winter is a bit different as comfort food comes into play. Cottage pie, beef cobbler,soups and one pot casseroles.
The weather has been really warm this summer...even up here, and that kills my appetite.
I hate pizza too, used to love it. I also used to like chips and can take them.or leave them now.
As for chocolate.... :-*. Never used to be bothered ;D
Honeyb
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What a coincidence babyjane - I made fish pie with runner beans tonight! We've got loads of fish from the sea in the freezer and garden overflowing with runner beans! Can't imagine doing gravy with it though!
I definitely eat less - the metabolism slows down as we age - and also usually have a smaller plate to limit my portions and therefore my weight. Eating less and more often, helps to regulate blood sugar levels.
Hurdity x
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I'm not good at eating in the day. I have gone so long trying to eat less my stomach just does not look for anything much in the day.
I will have some fruit though and that's about it.
Honeyb
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I use to eat spicy foods but have gone off those.
I now drink my tea strong as I can't abide it milky :sick02:
I eat breakfast, mid morning snack,light lunch,afternoon snack and then my evening meal.
I've found eating this way helps with my blood sugar.
Mind you if I'm hungry anytime I will snack on fruit or veg.
I do like sweet things whereas before I was more for savoury foods.
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Sometimes food tastes of fish :beaurk: ……… often my toast or maybe it's the butter thinly spread so I can't eat breakfast.
I have always needed to fancy foods in order to digest them. Eggs in particular. Pizza, fish and chips are also on the 'need to fancy' list but when I do I enjoy them.
Fortunately most of my 'safe' foods are tolerated without too much difficulty; always with ginger and garlic finely chopped.
Weak, black T, 2 sugars; I will drink milk shakes usually flavoured with chocolate. Coffee occasionally but then I find my appetite disappears :-\.
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This is really interesting, seems its quite common.
Hurdity I wish I'd known ;) but the gravy was meant with the shepherd's pie not the fish pie. I'm not always good with my punctuation! ::) You are fortunate to have access to lots of fresh fish I would love that :)
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Have you spoken to Emma about this ? Advertising is NOT allowed!
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Update by Emma: spammer deleted.
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;D babyjane re the gravy!
Hurdity x
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It's been reported ladies. Don't open the link.
Honeyb
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Update by Emma: spammer deleted.
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:thankyou: ...........
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it has gone now, I did wonder what it was about.
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We occasionally get spammers babyjane. It's rare as Emma is very on the ball. If you ever see something that you know is not right then click the Report to moderator link and let Emma know.
I have reported two in the last two days......can't remember the last time it happened.
Emma does need a heads up on occasion as she does not have time to read every thing all the time.
Honeyb
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ok, thanks for the explanation :)
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We used to have Chinese carry-outs pretty often but now - because I'm not so keen on them - we hardly ever do. I eat lots of oranges and apples now, drink milk every evening, have less coffee (although breakfast cup is obligatory), I have to steer myself away from chocolate these days (not like me!), I'm not wildly keen on spicy foods but do have a penchant for Indian pickles or various sorts.............and I still love veg of all descriptions. Oh, and I'll always like cheese. ;)
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thanks for sharing dulciana. My husband has recently started drinking milk every evening since he read that it can help with arthritis in the knee. Although most of the information mentions it is beneficial for women he decided to try it as he doesn't think it will do any harm. Strangely his knee pain has started improve whether this is placebo effect or not doesn't matter, he can get upstairs easier now :)
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There is something in Chinese foods which can cause tummy upsets …… of course, Meno-brain can't remember :( : monosodium glutamate?
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We have a great Chinese near us. Don't go that often, maybe once a month but I really like it.
Honeyb
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Hello babyjane.
I have found that my appetite has decreased over the last few years. One of my earlier meno problems was feeling nauseas so that didn't help, plus I'm not as active as I once was. My weight has remained constant so I guess I am ticking over. I've read that we need fewer calories as we get older as we no longer need them to build muscles so maybe a smaller appetite is no bad thing.
Take care.
K.
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It is the monosodium glutamate, a flavour enhancer, that is in chinese food and why I cannot tolerate it. In fact my husband and I evaluated all of our diet since we watched a programme called 'The Worlds Best Diet on Channel 4 back in June. It really made us think more about fresh food and less convenience and ready made, a real eye opener.
Sorry, hello Kathleen, how rude of me to not acknowledge your post.
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I don't use ready meals at all and never have done although they have improved greatly over the years. They are very handy especially for working women who have a family to feed in the evening after a long day at work
I think it's balance in every thing that's important. Also a little of what you fancy does you good.
My hubbies appetite has decreased as he gets older. He says it's because he is not as active. It's causes difficulties for me though as he is diabetic and needs to eat ::)
Honeyb
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One of the big changes for me is that I no longer enjoy takeaway or restaurant food as it always tastes too salty.
Vegetable cravings are now part of my life. At the moment it's beans and greens, I could eat them at every meal. We're growing more greens than ever this year - spring cabbages, pointy cabbages, Brussels sprouts, ordinary kale, curly Kale, Tuscan black kale, oh yes :)
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That all sounds lovely, I like all of those you have listed countrylass but I do enjoy them with gravy if it is available. I think gravyface might have been a better forum name for me that my childhood nickname when I was struggling to think of something suitable ::)
Funny what you said about restaurant food tasting salty, we don't cook with salt at all and visitors can add it at the table if they want to. As a result we find things taste over salted when we go out to eat.
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I LOVE sprouts ;D there are over 200 varieties grown in the UK
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Well, my dear one is feeding my brassica addiction - he went to the garden centre and came home with nine curly kale and nine 'January King' cabbage plants. And he's planted them out and put netting over them! More sprouts, though!
I'm a fan of gravy too, as long as I've made it myself ;) 'Gravyface' - love it.
We don't use salt in cooking either and I guess one must become sensitive to it quite quickly once you cut down. That or my palate has suddenly changed.
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too late now countrylass.
My son is the same, he has to have his food swimming in gravy, or custard if it is a pudding but as he lives on his own now I'm not sure he bothers as mum isn't there to make it ::)
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Introduce him to packet custard ;D
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oh my life he'd have a fit! He has become a gourmet cook since he had his own place and never uses packet anything. only cooking and baking from scratch will do, he is a real foodie. Unfortunately time constraints due to commuting and working long hours means baking is left to day off or Sunday.
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Introduce him to packet custard ;D
Are we talking Birds here?
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Oh yes. Runny and hot or runny and cold ……… but I have to fancy custard to eat it. Cheaper and quicker than making from scratch: apparently ………
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It is - trust me...... ;D
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Handy for camping. Open packet, add boiling water and ……….
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Ooops - I'me getting confused. ::)
The Birds I knew needed to be mixed into a pan of milk.
I thought that was instant, well, more so than mixing egg yolks, sugar and whatever else it takes into milk or cream.
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That's the Birds custard I knew too.
Used to mix huge vats of the stuff when I worked in industrial kitchens ::). You could have swam in it there was so much.
Took me years to eat it again. In fact it took me years to eat a lot of stuff. I struggled to eat when I was a cook. I was never ever hungry. That was my thinnest time ::). Surrounded by food and no appetite.
Honeyb
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The packet stuff you mix with boliing water is ghastly and doesn't taste like custard at all. We took it on holiday with us when the kids were small.
For true comfort food I need the Bird's custard powder that you make in a pan with milk :)
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I'm afraid I eat more rubbish and junk food than ever. I seem to crave all the time. Sensible food doesn't interest me at all. Chocolate, sweets, crisps, wine, chips, the lot. How I ling for an adults approach to food. This would be one excellent sympton of menopause.
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I have the occasional biscuit, but have gone right off sweet stuff as well as takeaways and restaurant meals. If someone serves me a pudding I'll eat it to be polite, but would rather not.
As with the greens, I've come over all foodie about bread and have started making my own. I look at some of the stuff in supermarkets and think, 'That's not food' and I call it 'Fake Matter'. All I really want these days is fresh stuff and if I've grown it myself, or someone I know has grown it, so much the better.
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That was one of the reasons we joined our community garden.....to grow our own stuff.
This year we have had
Peas
Beetroot,
Tomatoes,
Potatoes,
French beans,
Salads,
Spring onions,
Parsnips
Carrots
and melons.
They taste so much nicer and our garden is a nice social place to be. It's right beside the sea and we collect seaweed from the shore for fertilizer.
I love it.
Honeyb
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I'm not surprised it sounds as though you live in a lovely place honeybun :)
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West Coast of Scotland babyjane. It's lovely but a bit exposed. Wait till we get to winter. I complain about the weather a lot ;D
I do love my gardening though.
Honeyb
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We keep promising ourselves a holiday in Scotland. I went once when I was 16 with my parents to the Trossachs but not been north of Newcastle/Durham since then. One day.......... :)
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Scotland is mine and hubby fav place we go every year 😊 not been this year yet been having lots of memo symptons 😔 but definitely going next month as it's our 30th wedding anniversary .x
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Congratulations on your 30th. Mine is in October and we are going to the Trossachs for a week in a farm house. Really looking forward to it.
Honeyb
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honeybun, it sounds wonderful - Scotland, the community garden and all the fruit and veg. I suppose it probably gets a bit wild in the winter, though.
Congratulations on your 30th, Pauline - sounds like a good idea for your holiday.
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Ours is the 27th when is yours honeybun ? X
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congratulations to you both on your pearl wedding anniversaries. We had a great time away for ours, at a health spa. We are 2 years away from our Ruby now. Time goes so fast, enjoy it x
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Just read back - congratulations to honeybun as well :)
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Ours is the 27th October.
I did not want to be at home so decided on a very late holiday. The kids are coming with us for the first weekend and then the rest of the week is ours.
Planning a few days out when we are there. Stirling is one and as we are near Callender then we shall spend some time there too.
Where are you planning on going in Scotland ?
Honeyb
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honeybun Callender is where I stayed with my parents when I was 16, from what I remember at that age it was a lovely area. Hope you enjoy it all.
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Hi honeybun 27th is popular :) we are going to Pitlochry . But hope I'm feeling ok not been very good these last couple of days 😔 feeling very anxious and shaky went out last night to see Lee Evans life in Nottingham but had to come away early as I think I had a panic attack it was horrible seem to be getting these lately😔 . Is part of the menopause ? X
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Hope things,settle for you before you go. Is it self catering ? If so then no pressure.
That's why we have self catering holidays.
My sis is off to Pitlochry in a week. She loves it there. They have a theatre night in the tiny theatre while they are there.
Have a lovely time.
Honeyb
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My taste buds have been playing up :-\ foods that I used to enjoy taste awful …….
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It's funny but i've gone off quite a bit of foods I used to like over the last few years and I never even gave a thought to it being menopause related! :o I hate eggs now in any shape or form and yet until a few years ago I had always eaten them :-e. Hate custard now too, can't abide the stuff :o. Don't like drinking milk or any milky drinks, hot chocolate etc but I will have milk on my cereal. All these were things I had eaten/drank all my life aswell :-\
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I've gone off bananas lately after eating one every day for the potassium. Very odd ???
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I stopped eating them about 18 months ago after 10+ years of eating bananas daily to help restless legs at night.
It's the afternoon cuppa that tastes awful …… although other food stuffs taste 'odd' and Himself will say 'hormones'!
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yes, the way I understood it is that restless legs can be caused by low potassium, hence bananas. How have your legs been since you stopped having bananas CLDK
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Not too bad. I'm aware of the sensations during the day but it's when I got into bed at night, it would start almost at once. Now I take 1 Nurofen if they keep me awake ……….. I buy bananas weekly but can't be bothered to chew them even when I fancy eating any :D
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I've gone off the taste and texture.
My patient leaflet in my escitalopram said take care with NSAIs so I haven't been using it since I started the medication :-\
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I haven't read the insert for years ;D ……… and my GP has never said not to take Nurofen. Still here >wave<!
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Ohhh I'd forgotten about bananas...that's something else I've gone off that I used to eat all the time, very strange.
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Hormones ::)
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have found myself wanting comfort food all the time,macaroni cheese, toad in the hole, cottage pie and meat pie(with puff pastry
lots of ice cream especially when i flush, i freeze pots of yoghurt, and 90% and 100% chocolate which i used to hate as too strong but milk chocolate doesnt do it any more
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My taste buds have altered ::)
Dark chocolate is good. 2 pieces for pudding ;-)
Being thirsty can mimic hunger …….
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I don't have much of a sweet tooth any more, except when I am emotionally challenged. I have posted about this elsewhere.
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Have also found myself wanting comfort food - I used to prefer salty foods but now I like salty AND sweet.
A piece of cake and a cup of milky chicory (tastes like weak coffee, caffeine free) - lovely. Also love chocolate now more than ever - I stopped eating it (and certain other foods, cheese etc) for months on end however it didn't make on jot of difference to my migraines or meno symptoms, so I eat anything now, in moderation of course.
Recently a friend took her elderly father to A&E (for groin pain) he was told by the consultant that people over 65 shouldn't take Neurofen.
I've not too keen on bananas anymore. Too sickly sweet.
Latley been eating quite a lot of cottage cheese with chives and rice cakes. Sounds bland but it's not.
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milky chicory - have you tried Barleycup? And I have recently discovered sweet and salty (together) popcorn, really nice.
I still eat bananas for potassium and glucose but I don't like them as much as I did, I think it is the texture :P
Rice cakes are really nice, especially with cheese and marmalade :)
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;D - I'm really funny about bananas, they have to be 'right'. Green and I can't face them, too soft, yuk. I do like them mashed in thick cream with brown sugar on top though ;) or in a milk-shake - no semi-skimmed here, full fat only!
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milky chicory - have you tried Barleycup?
That's something I won't be going anywhere near. It reminds me of early pregnancy, when I couldn't face coffee because of morning sickness and Barleycup was all I could drink!
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Never heard of it - reminds me of Horlicks ;)
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Horlicks reminds me of childbirth.
Barleycup is a caffeine free blend of barley, rye and chicory that you make in the same was as instant coffee. I drank it for quite a long time during my caffeine free phase some years ago.
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:-X - :thankyou: - TMI ;D
Isn't there similar from my childhood? "Camp" coffee :-\
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'Camp' was coffee and chicory, still had caffeinated coffee in it. used to make lovely coffee buttercream :)
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:-X ………….. :D