Could Keto Be Your Menopause Superpower? – The Keto Collective

Hot flushes making you feel like you’re melting? Mood swings that’d put a teenager to shame? And that bloody weight gain that seems to appear from absolutely nowhere?!

Sound familiar?

Welcome to menopause, ladies!

Just when you thought you’d got this whole life thing sorted, menopause crashes the party like that relative who always turns up unannounced and eats all your biscuits. Your hormone levels are having a proper meltdown and frankly, you’re getting sick of it!

But hang on… what if there was a way to fight back against these annoying symptoms? What if you could actually take control instead of just accepting that this is “your lot” now?

Enter the ketogenic diet.

You’re probably thinking “Suzie, can changing what I scoff really help with all this menopause madness?!”

As a nutritionist who’s worked with loads of women experiencing menopause, I can tell you that following the keto diet and menopause are like best mates when it comes to sorting out a whole load of troublesome symptoms.

So, fancy finding out how the benefits of the keto diet could help you absolutely smash your way through this menopause transition?

Grab a bulletproof coffee and your favourite keto bar, and let’s find out!

What Actually Is Menopause?

Right, let’s start with the basics. Menopause is basically Mother Nature’s way of saying “right, that’s enough of that then!” to your monthly visitor. It happens when your hormone levels, especially estrogen, take a proper dive during middle age.

Some women zip through the menopause transition early, others take their sweet time getting there. But we all end up at the same destination!

Loads of women find this whole menopause business absolutely horrendous. We’re talking weight gain that makes no sense whatsoever, brain fog thicker than morning mist, and sleep that’s more chopped up than a Sunday roast.

Your female reproductive system basically goes through a complete overhaul during this time. And like any good renovation project, it’s messy, takes way longer than you thought, and costs more than you bargained for!

The symptoms of menopause can be anything from mildly irritating to absolutely horrendous. It’s different for everyone, which is why having a proper eating plan becomes so bloody important.

Am I Perimenopausal or Menopausal?

Before you hit full menopause, there’s perimenopause. Think of it as menopause’s dress rehearsal – all the drama, none of the closure!

During perimenopause, you might notice changes that mess with your whole body and mind. The most common menopause symptoms include:

Periods that rock up whenever they feel like it
Hot flushes that could heat a small house
Weight gain around your middle that appears overnight
Mood swings that’d make EastEnders writers jealous
Brain fog that makes you forget your own name
Sleep that’s impossible to complete without becoming a sweaty puddle
Energy levels that crash harder than the economy

These menopausal symptoms can be all over the place. Some women barely notice them, others feel like they’ve been run over by a bus.

You’re officially menopausal when your period hasn’t visited for 12 straight months. After menopause, your hormones settle into their new groove, though some symptoms might hang around like a bad smell.

Is a Keto Diet Good for Menopause?

Yes, the good news is that the Keto Diet could be your super-weapon against Menopause!

Getting started with the Keto Diet is an absolute breeze!

All you need to do to start is cut carbs and sugar while upping fats. This makes Keto a low-carb diet diet that can be particularly effective for initial weight loss and energy enhancement.

Cutting carbs forces your body into a state of ketosis . Ketosis is when your body burns fat instead of glucose for fuel. This has many benefits for your health and well-being, especially for women going through the symptoms of menopause!

The keto diet may offer potential benefits for women undergoing menopause, particularly in relation to insulin sensitivity and managing symptoms like night sweats and hot flashes.

Is the Keto Diet Good for a Woman Over 50?

Absolutely it is! The ketogenic diet offers brilliant benefits for women around menopause, especially when it comes to sorting out those mental hormones during menopause and managing symptoms like hot flushes.

A low carbohydrate diet, such as the ketogenic diet, can lead to improvements in metabolic health despite potential side effects, emphasizing the physiological challenges women face during this life stage.

The keto diet can help you cope with menopause in several ways:

Keto can help rebalance your hormones
Keto can help you lose weight
Keto can super-charge your long-term health
Keto can boost your sleep and energy levels

Let’s have a closer look at each benefit…

How Does the Ketogenic Diet Help With Hormone Levels?

Hormonal chaos is behind most of the symptoms of menopause. From that sneaky fat accumulation around your waist to rubbish sleep and anxiety that pops up from nowhere, it all comes back to your reproductive hormones having an absolute breakdown.

As your estrogen and progesterone levels fall off a cliff, they drag other hormones down with them. We’re talking insulin, cortisol, thyroid hormones – the whole bloody lot! Your female reproductive system gets turned completely upside down.

This is just part of life for us ladies, unfortunately.

At The Keto Collective, I’ve seen firsthand how following a keto diet can be an absolute game-changer for women struggling with this transition.

Getting stuck into the ketogenic diet and hitting a state of ketosis actually helps stop your hormones from going completely mental!

This is where things get really interesting. Recent research backs up what loads of us nutritionists have thought for ages. A 2025 analysis looking at women with hormonal imbalances found that very-low-calorie ketogenic diets led to proper drops in both Luteinizing Hormone and total testosterone levels. This is massive, as these two troublemakers often get completely out of whack during menopause.

How Does This Eating Plan Work Its Magic?

The way keto for menopause tackles hormonal madness is quite clever really. By binning the carbs, you sort insulin resistance right out. When your insulin is all over the place, it can actually tell your ovaries to pump out more testosterone. The ketogenic diet helps calm this whole circus down.

Here’s what this fat burning eating plan can do for YOUR body:

Keto reduces insulin resistance by lowering your carb intake and stabilizing your blood sugar levels. Studies show that this helps your cells respond better to insulin and use glucose more efficiently. Keto also helps lower inflammation and oxidative stress, which can impair insulin signalling.
Keto lowers cortisol levels by reducing stress and improving sleep quality. Keto also helps balance your blood sugar levels, which can prevent cortisol spikes and crashes. Keto also provides healthy fats and ketones, which can support your adrenal glands and brain function.
Keto boosts thyroid function by providing adequate calories and nutrients. Keto also helps lower inflammation and oxidative stress, which can damage your thyroid gland and interfere with thyroid hormone production. Keto also provides healthy fats and ketones, which can support your thyroid hormones and metabolism.
Keto increases serotonin production by providing tryptophan, an amino acid that is the precursor of serotonin. Keto also helps lower inflammation and oxidative stress, which can deplete serotonin levels. Keto also provides healthy fats and ketones, which can support your brain health and mood. No more ups and downs!

By rebalancing your hormones, keto can help alleviate many of the symptoms of menopause.

Keto can help you feel happier, calmer, more energetic, and more focused!

Weight Management During the Menopause Transition

One of the most annoying symptoms of menopause is that sudden weight gain, especially that stubborn fat storage around your middle that seems to appear overnight! The main reason women gain weight during menopause is that their metabolism slows down faster than dial-up internet.

But this doesn’t have to be your story when following the keto diet!

This isn’t just me being optimistic either. A 2025 study showed just how common this struggle actually is. About 64% of postmenopausal women had bigger waist measurements compared to just 20% of younger women. Even more worrying, 42% had metabolic syndrome – a right nasty cluster of conditions that ups your risk of heart problems and strokes.

Can the Ketogenic Diet Help With Menopause Belly?

The keto diet can be absolutely brilliant for fighting that sneaky menopausal fat distribution mess!

By cutting carbs right back and getting into ketosis, your body starts burning its own fat stores like nobody’s business. This makes the ketogenic diet particularly effective for weight loss around menopause.

Belly fat isn’t just about your jeans not doing up properly. This visceral fat wraps round your organs and pumps out inflammation. It messes with your hormones and completely screws up how your body handles insulin.

That dreaded middle age spread associated with menopause doesn’t have to be your fate! Here’s why being in ketosis is so bloody powerful:

Keto helps you burn fat : By putting your body into ketosis, keto helps you switch from burning glucose to burning fat for fuel. Studies Show this can help you lose excess body fat and improve your body composition. Keto also helps preserve your muscle mass and strength by providing adequate protein and ketones.
Keto helps you control your appetite: By lowering your insulin and blood sugar levels, keto helps you reduce your hunger and cravings. Keto also helps you feel full and satisfied by providing healthy fats and fibre. Keto also helps regulate your hormones and neurotransmitters that affect your appetite and mood.
Keto helps you reduce inflammation and oxidative stress: By lowering your carb intake and increasing your antioxidant intake, keto helps you lower inflammation and oxidative stress in your body. This can help improve your insulin sensitivity, hormone balance, thyroid function, and brain health. Keto also helps protect your cells from damage and ageing.
Keto helps you increase your physical activity: By boosting your energy levels, mood, and cognitive function, keto helps you increase your motivation and ability to exercise. Keto also helps improve your endurance, performance, and recovery by providing ketones as an alternative fuel source. Keto also helps prevent or reduce joint pain and inflammation by lowering uric acid levels.

And here’s the best bit – following the keto diet doesn’t mean kissing goodbye to treats! You can fit loads of your favourite foods into this way of eating. Anyone fancy some keto cookies?!

Menopause doesn’t mean you have to give up on having the body YOU want!

How Keto can Super-charge Your Long-Term Health

The benefits of the keto diet go way beyond just helping you lose weight. Following a keto diet can also absolutely supercharge your long term health during menopause by tackling some proper serious health risks that affect women around this time.

Bone Health : Loss of bone density becomes a real worry after menopause because of dropping estrogen. The good news? Following the keto diet provides nutrients that support bone health and may help prevent dangerous bone loss.
Brain Health : That brain fog isn’t just annoying – it could signal bigger problems down the line. Research suggests the ketogenic diet may protect against mental decline by providing ketones as brain fuel.
Heart Health : Heart problems become way more likely after menopause. The keto diet can improve cholesterol, blood pressure, and inflammation. Worries about meat and saturated fat intake can be sorted with a well planned approach.

Fighting Inflammation Head On

Experiencing menopause often triggers increased inflammation, linked to aches, pains, and loads of health issues. Recent research shows how the ketogenic diet can be absolutely fantastic against inflammation related problems throughout your whole body.

Clearing That Mental Fog

That brain fog associated with menopause? The ketogenic diet could be your ticket out of the mental muddle. Research shows that dropping estrogen affects brain function, but keto style eating supports brain cell health and keeps your mind sharp.

That brain fog associated with menopause? The ketogenic diet could be your ticket out of the mental muddle. Research shows that dropping estrogen affects brain function, but keto-style eating supports brain cell health and keeps your mind sharp.

Gut Health Matters Too

Menopause can mess with your gut bacteria something rotten. Because the keto diet starves those sugar loving bad bacteria, it helps restore a healthier gut balance. And a happier gut means a much happier you!

By helping you supercharge your long-term health, keto can help you avoid or manage some of the major diseases that affect menopausal women.

The benefits of a ketogenic diet extend beyond managing menopause symptoms.

The Ketogenic Diet for Perimenopause vs Postmenopause

Whether you’re smack bang in the middle of perimenopause or fully postmenopausal, the benefits of the keto diet can be absolutely life-changing.

But there are some differences worth knowing about:

For Perimenopause : Following a keto diet may help stabilise those completely mental fluctuating hormones. Loads of women find their cycles become more predictable, and symptoms like mood swings calm right down.

For Postmenopause : Focus shifts to long term protection. The ketogenic diet’s benefits for bone health, brain function, and heart health become particularly valuable as you get older.

Keto Boosts Sleep And Energy Levels

Keto is a great way to help you maintain steady energy levels. Healthy fats offer a clean and efficient energy source that helps stabilise your energy while levelling out your hormones. This, in turn, improves your sleep as hormones like cortisol, serotonin, and melatonin stop spiking, ultimately resetting your circadian rhythm.

Keto is the perfect solution to feeling chronically wiped out.

And because the ketones your body produces replace glucose in your brain, you’ll also experience reduced brain fog. And that afternoon carb crash?

No carbs, no crash!

Another benefit of keto for menopause is that it can boost sleep and energy levels. Many menopausal women struggle with insomnia, fatigue, and low mood, which can affect productivity, performance, and happiness. Keto can help you improve your sleep and energy levels by:

Keto helps you regulate your circadian rhythm: Keto can help you regulate your circadian rhythm by lowering your blood sugar and insulin levels, which negatively affect your melatonin production. Not having sugar and carbs means no spikes in energy during the day, which interferes with your sleep quality at night.
Keto helps you increase your energy production: Keto can help you increase your energy production by providing ketones as an alternative fuel source for your cells. Ketones can help you produce more ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the molecule that stores and transports energy in your cells. Keto can also help you avoid carbs and sugar, which we mentioned before can cause energy crashes and cravings.
Keto helps you enhance your mood and cognition: Keto can help you enhance your mood and cognition by providing ketones as an alternative fuel source for your brain. Ketones can help improve your brain function, memory, learning, and mood by stimulating neuronal survival, synaptic plasticity, and neurogenesis.

By boosting your sleep and energy levels, keto can help you feel more alert and refreshed during menopause. Keto can help you sleep better, wake up easier, and have more energy and focus throughout the day.

It’s a no-brainer if you are having any of these symptoms!

What About Hot Flushes and Night Sweats When Following the Keto Diet?

Loads of women worry about hot flushes getting worse on keto, especially during those first few weeks. Here’s the honest truth – some women do get temporarily worse hot flushes when starting, but this usually sorts itself out within a few weeks.

The ketogenic diet can actually help reduce hot flushes long term by:

Keeping blood sugar steady as a rock
Cutting inflammation throughout your body
Supporting way better sleep quality
Improving your overall hormone balance

If you’re getting night sweats when following a keto diet, stay properly hydrated and watch your electrolytes. This often helps symptoms settle way quicker.

Why Do I Look Younger on Keto?

Yes, Keto can make you look younger! You heard that correct!

Keto can make you look younger by improving your skin health and overall appearance.

Some of the skin benefits of adapting to a keto lifestyle are truly remarkable:

Improving your skin hydration: Keto can help improve your skin hydration by providing healthy fats and ketones, which can help retain water in your skin cells and tissues. Keto will require you to drink more water, which will help flush out toxins and replenish your skin’s hydration.
Boosting your collagen production: Collagen is the most abundant protein in your skin. It’s the thing that gives your skin firmness and elasticity. So it’s important to us! As you age, your collagen production declines, which can cause your skin to sag and wrinkle. Keto can help boost your collagen production by upping your intake of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Keto also lowers inflammation, which can inhibit collagen synthesis.
Reducing your glycation: Glycation is the process of sugar molecules attaching to proteins and fats in your body. It can affect your skin by damaging your collagen and elastin fibres. Keto can help reduce your glycation by eliminating sugars, thus preventing molecules from attaching to your skin proteins and fats.

By improving your skin health and appearance, keto can really make you look younger!

Take a photo when you start the diet, then compare it with how you look 3 to 6 months from now. You may be surprised to see the positive effect Keto has had on your skin… and maybe your waist-line…

When the Keto Diet Isn’t Working for Menopause

If you’re finding that keto for menopause isn’t working like you hoped, don’t chuck it all in! This actually happens quite a bit. Here are some troubleshooting tips:

Check your electrolytes: Menopause messes with how your body handles important minerals. Low levels can make symptoms way worse.

Watch your protein: Women experiencing menopause often need a bit more protein to keep muscle and support hormone production.

Stress levels matter big time: Chronic stress completely interferes with ketosis and makes menopausal symptoms worse. Sorting stress is absolutely crucial.

Be patient with yourself: Hormonal weight change takes proper time to reverse. Give your body at least 3 months to get used to this healthier diet approach.

Get some help: Sometimes you need a nutritionist to fine tune your meal plan for exactly what you need.

Menopause can be a challenging time for many women, but it doesn’t have to be! You can use keto as your menopause superpower to help you embrace this new period in your life. It doesn’t need to be a struggle.

Keto can help you rebalance your hormones, lose weight, super-charge your long-term health, and boost your sleep and energy levels. Keto can also make you look younger and feel happier.

To start a keto diet for menopause, you need to cut your carbs, eat plenty of healthy fats, eat moderate amounts of protein, eat low-carb vegetables and fruits, drink plenty of water, and add some supplements if needed.

You may experience some side effects or challenges when starting keto, such as keto flu , cravings, or social pressure. But don’t worry, these are temporary and manageable. You can overcome them by staying hydrated, eating enough calories and fats, and finding support from family and friends, or us at The Keto Collective

PCOS and Other Endocrine Diseases of the Female Reproductive System

Loads of women experiencing menopause might also be dealing with other hormonal conditions like PCOS. The hormonal rollercoaster is something loads of us are dead familiar with!

A massive 2025 review looked specifically at how the ketogenic diet affects women with PCOS and other diseases of the female reproductive system. The results were absolutely fantastic!

The research found that following a keto diet showed brilliant effects on weight, body composition, and how your body handles insulin. But here’s the really exciting bit for anyone dealing with hormonal chaos – this eating plan also helped lower those problematic hormone levels.

This matters big time for menopausal women because it shows just how effective the keto diet is at regulating the whole female reproductive system. The same benefits that help PCOS also massively support women going through menopause.

FInally On… Keto and Menopause

Menopause can feel absolutely overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to completely derail your life! The ketogenic diet could genuinely be your menopause superpower.

Whether you’re dealing with perimenopause symptoms or are fully postmenopausal, following the keto diet offers proper benefits. From balancing hormones during menopause to supporting healthy weight management, supercharging long term health, and boosting sleep quality – the advantages are absolutely mental!

To start following a keto diet for menopause, just cut carbs, load up on healthy fats, eat moderate protein, and drink loads of water.

You might get some temporary side effects like keto flu when starting this eating plan. Don’t worry – these pass dead quick and are totally manageable.

Stay hydrated, eat enough healthy fats, and lean on support from us at The Keto Collective.

SUZIE WALKER

Keto Collective Co-Founder & Naturopathic Nutritionist dipNT.CNM

Suzie has researched and reviewed the many health benefits of low-carb living. She co-founded The Keto Collective, a company that aims to make it easier to find whole food, great tasting, keto alternatives to their everyday favourites.