5 Breakfasts to Get You Through Menopause

How you start your morning can significantly impact your day, especially if you’re dealing with menopause symptoms. Regularly eating a nutritious breakfast can reduce hormonal symptoms and lower the risk of several issues, including heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure.¹

Your first meal sets the tone for your eating habits for the rest of the day. Starting with 30+ grams of protein at breakfast helps stabilize blood sugar, curb cravings, support energy and satiety, and maintain muscle mass.² When you skip this important meal, you miss out on all those great benefits!

Refueling your body after fasting overnight with the right foods can help maintain a healthy weight and ease menopausal symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats. They can also help manage other menopause-related issues, such as depression, anxiety, and cognitive changes, during and after menopause.³

A nutrient-packed, protein-rich breakfast doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. These five recipes provide simple, delicious ideas to incorporate into your routine that can make mornings something to look forward to rather than a rushed or overlooked part of your day.

1. Hot Flash-Halting Protein Shake

Hot flashes can abruptly disrupt your day, bringing intense warmth, sweating, and often unbearable discomfort. This sudden onset of heat can leave you feeling frazzled and off-balance, affecting your mood and productivity right from the start.

Starting your day with this Hot Flash-Halting Protein Shake can be a game-changer during and after menopause. Its protein supports the balance of hormones, including estrogen, which can fluctuate during menopause, leading to hot flashes.⁴ Protein’s amino acids also help build and maintain muscle, regulate your body temperature and metabolic health, and indirectly help reduce the frequency and intensity of hot flashes.⁵

This recipe also has good-for-you ingredients like healthy fats from avocado to keep your hormones in check and your heart happy, potassium to manage blood pressure, and fiber to balance blood-sugar levels.⁶

Adding leafy greens to your shake provides calcium, safeguarding your bones against the risk of bone loss that studies show can accelerate once you hit 40.⁷ They also contain vitamins A, C, and K for menopause health:

Vitamin A helps maintain healthy skin and manage dryness issues that can worsen with hormonal changes.⁸
Vitamin C boosts collagen production, aiding skin elasticity and immune function while potentially reducing the duration of hot flashes.^{9, 10}
Vitamin K is crucial for bone health because your risk for osteoporosis increases post-menopause.¹¹

Berries bring color and antioxidants, fighting off damaging free radicals that can worsen menopause symptoms. These antioxidants can help reduce the frequency and intensity of hot flashes.¹²

We’ve also added ground flaxseed for a powerful source of lignans, which are compounds that are recognized for their hormone-balancing properties. These lignans can be particularly beneficial during menopause, helping to stabilize estrogen levels and contributing to overall hormone balance.¹³

Ground flaxseed is also rich in anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids. Reducing inflammation can help you manage menopausal symptoms and reduce your disease risk.¹⁴

Flaxseeds are also rich in phytoestrogens, which are plant compounds similar to estrogen. Due to their estrogen-like ability, phytoestrogens can bind to estrogen receptors and help balance hormone levels. The phytoestrogens in flax and fennel seeds in this shake can alleviate menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes. These two seeds also support digestive health, promoting a balanced and happy gut.¹⁵

2. Savory Quinoa Breakfast Bowl

This Savory Quinoa Breakfast Bowl combines quinoa, purple sweet potatoes, ground turkey, nitrate-free uncured bacon, and flavorful spices for a satisfying, hearty start to your day. It’s packed with menopause-supporting ingredients.

Quinoa is high in protein and fiber and is known for its hormone-balancing act thanks to its phytoestrogens.¹⁶
Extra-virgin olive oil is a heart-healthy hero, teeming with healthy fats and antioxidants that support heart health, which becomes even more crucial as menopause can increase your risk of heart disease.¹⁷
Purple sweet potatoes provide antioxidants that not only make your breakfast look beautiful but also help manage blood pressure and dial down inflammation.¹⁸
Cherry tomatoes are bursting with antioxidants called lycopene, vitamins, and minerals, all good for your heart.¹⁹
Swiss chard provides vitamins A, C, and K, plus magnesium. This mineral supports calm, helps you sleep better, and keeps your bones robust and resilient as estrogen levels drop.²⁰
Fresh basil boosts this recipe’s anti-inflammatory benefits.²¹

3. Chicken Sausage Sweet Potato Hash

This Chicken Sausage Sweet Potato Hash offers protein-packed ground chicken with heart-healthy extra-virgin olive oil and immune-boosting garlic. Sweet potatoes deliver fiber and antioxidants like beta-carotene to manage blood pressure and inflammation like a champ.²²

Walnuts add a crunchy twist, packed with omega-3 fatty acids for a happier heart, sharper brain, and reduced inflammation.²³ The phytoestrogens in fennel seeds offer a natural remedy to ease hot flashes and keep you cool.²⁴

Sage leaves add more anti-inflammatory benefits to support your brain and mood.²⁵ This hearty, healthy dish also incorporates spices like cumin, oregano, thyme, and chili pepper. Together, they uplevel flavor while giving this dish anti-inflammatory and antioxidant power, supporting you through menopause with every flavorful forkful.²⁶

4. Cinnamon Almond Overnight Oats

Menopausal symptoms like mood swings, hot flashes, and energy dips can stem from blood-sugar imbalances.²⁷ These Cinnamon Almond Overnight Oats offer a wholesome and satisfying breakfast option that helps keep your blood sugar stable.

These oats combine protein powder with blood-sugar-balancing ingredients that support heart and bone health while lowering inflammation. Best of all, you can prepare them the night before. They’ll be waiting in the fridge when you’re ready to break your overnight fast!

Unsweetened, full-fat coconut milk yogurt provides healthy fats critical for hormone production and probiotics for gut health.²⁸ A type of soluble fiber in oats called beta-glucan supports heart health, immune health, and blood-sugar balance.²⁹

Unsweetened almond butter boosts healthy fats and protein, while sliced almonds add a crunchy twist while providing vitamin E and magnesium, armoring you against the menopause-magnified risk of bone loss that can lead to osteoporosis.³⁰

With its wealth of omega-3 fatty acids and lignans, flaxseed helps manage menopausal symptoms and lower inflammation.³¹ Ground cinnamon boosts this recipe’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory powers while helping stabilize blood-sugar levels.³²

5. Individual Baked Breakfast Frittatas

If you can tolerate eggs, these Individual Baked Breakfast Frittatas provide protein, healthy fats, and essential nutrients that support heart and bone health, hormone balance, a healthy mood, and other benefits that can help you during menopause. They taste like a crustless quiche, and you can prepare them ahead of time for a simple breakfast option.

Pasture-raised eggs are highly nutritious, with protein, healthy fats, and essential nutrients for bone health.³³ Eggs are one of the few foods rich in vitamin D, which (along with calcium) helps you maintain bone strength during menopause and beyond.³⁴

Eggs are also rich in several B vitamins, which support your mood, energy levels, and hormone balance. Vitamin B6 helps create neurotransmitters, which regulate mood—necessary for managing mood swings during menopause.³⁵ Vitamin B12, abundant in eggs, is crucial for maintaining nerve and red blood cells.³⁶ Eggs are also a good source of choline, a nutrient that supports brain health and may help preserve memory and cognitive function.³⁷

Asparagus is rich in vitamins A, C, and E, all antioxidants that combat damaging free radicals, help maintain skin health, and ease hot flashes.³⁸ The folate in asparagus is essential for heart health.³⁹ Its fiber content supports digestive wellness and weight management as well.⁴⁰

Nitrate-free uncured bacon provides more protein and fat for sustained energy and hormone regulation. Red onion and red bell pepper contain antioxidants for immune support and to potentially ease hot flashes.^{41, 42}Adding dried basil boosts this recipe’s anti-inflammatory and mood-balancing benefits, thanks to antioxidants like rosmarinic acid.⁴³

Eat Protein First to Start Every Morning Right

Optimal protein at breakfast can be a game-changer in managing those tricky menopause symptoms, fighting off the muscle loss that comes with age, helping you shed fat more effectively, and keeping your energy levels steady throughout the day.

My Eat Protein First Loaded Smoothie Cookbook makes meeting your protein quota at breakfast simple and convenient. You’ll find 60 yummy ways to get the protein you need to be at your best all day. Every recipe is convenient, easy to prepare, and perfect for breaking your overnight fast or getting post-workout fuel.

Get the cookbook for FREE here.

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*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. Products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The views in this blog by JJ Virgin should never be used as a substitute for professional medical advice. Please work with a healthcare practitioner concerning any medical problem or concern.