Foods You Should Eat To Help Prevent Hot Flashes

Imagine this: A woman suddenly she feels a warm sensation throughout her chest, neck, and face. Her heart begins beating faster, and she feels anxious. Taking a mirror out of her purse, she confirms that her skin is red and blotchy. Although she's not happy, she's spoken with her doctor and knows exactly what's happening to her: She's experiencing a hot flash.

As the Mayo Clinic explains, the above symptoms — as well as perspiration, mainly on the upper part of one's body — can all happen when someone has a hot flash. Additionally, as a hot flash ends, a person might feel chilled. These symptoms can also occur at night (i.e., night sweats) and interfere with sleep. It's no coincidence that the above scenario was about a woman, since women are more likely to have hot flashes. And even though hot flashes can technically happen because of different medical conditions, they are extremely common during menopause.

For this reason, the majority of this article will focus on foods that address menopause-related hot flashes. However, it's important to keep in mind that there's debate about various foods recommended both for hot flashes and for menopause in general. You will find that research might be limited and/or mixed (and that there might be health concerns) regarding some of these items. We've covered some of the potential positive and negative aspects of these foods; still, before adding any of them to your diet, speak with a medical professional.

Don't let the word "fatty" fool you. As the American Heart Association (AHA) explains, salmon, herring, cobia, and other kinds of fatty fish can be healthy additions to your diet, especially if you are experiencing hot flashes. And it's easy to remember why, since fatty fish are packed with omega-3 fatty acids.

According to Henry Ford Health, omega-3s can help keep blood pressure in a healthy range, which might help with hot flashes. In fact, a study led by Weill Cornell Medical College involving 154 New York City women supported this possible blood pressure/hot flashes connection. "One-third of the women we studied reported having had hot flashes within the past two weeks," said the study's senior author Dr. Linda Gerber. "Among these women, systolic blood pressure was significantly higher — even after adjusting for whether they were pre-menopausal, menopausal or post-menopausal." Systolic blood pressure number refers to how much pressure occurs in your arteries as your heart beats (via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Meanwhile, the diastolic blood pressure number measures the arterial pressure between heartbeats.

Although fatty fish contain omega-3s, some fish might have materials that could be bad for one's health (per AHA). If you've ever been pregnant or nursing, you've probably heard warnings about eating fish with large amounts of mercury. With that said, certain fish can also be loaded with other types of environmental contaminants.

As Healthline notes, sage's reputation as a treatment for menopause symptoms — including hot flashes and night sweats — spans generations. But not everyone in the scientific community is in agreement about sage's potential when it comes to hot flashes and menopause in general.

Part of the issue is that there hasn't been a great deal of research into sage; moreover, existing research doesn't conclusively indicate that it's an effective health treatment (via the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health). But that doesn't mean there isn't any research out there that supports sage's possible beneficial impact on hot flashes. For example, a study in Advances in Therapy that involved 71 menopausal women found that taking fresh sage in tablet form helped reduce both the frequency and severity of hot flashes that the participants experienced. Meanwhile, a clinical study in Minerva Ginecologica that also involved menopausal women concluded that a combination of sage and alfalfa helped with hot flashes and night sweats.

While we're still exploring sage's medicinal potential, that doesn't mean we aren't aware of some precautions when it comes to this mint. According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, there are different species of sage, and some of them might cause seizures, especially in essential oil form. Pregnant women are also advised against using sage. 

From salsa to energy-packed snacks and beyond, strawberries are a popular food that can fit into a variety of recipes. Fun fact: Despite its name, this member of the rose family is actually not a true berry; rather, it's an "accessory fruit" (via Britannica). What's more, there's evidence supporting that incorporating strawberries into your diet might help with hot flashes.

Reuters reported in 2013 that a study in Australia involving 6,000 women found that eating certain fruits along with a Mediterranean-style diet helped reduce menopause symptoms. Among the fruits consumed in large quantities were strawberries. Additionally, the study connected high sugar and fat consumption with an increased chance of night sweats and hot flashes. So, why was this fruit/Mediterranean Diet combination a winning one for the women in this study? Well, one possibility is that eating more fiber and less fat might positively affect the amount of estrogen in one's body, subsequently helping with menopause-related health issues like hot flashes. Also worth noting is that strawberries are an excellent source of vitamin C, which naturopathic doctor Dr. Lisa Watson notes on her website might help with hot flashes.

Although fruits including strawberries and a Mediterranean-style diet helped the women in this study, it's worth noting that a Mediterranean diet can include red wine. And according to the Cleveland Clinic, drinking more than one glass of wine a day could trigger hot flashes.

As Britannica explains, there are a number of foods that are part of the legume family, including soybeans. Additionally, other types of legumes like lentils and peas might also be helpful if you get hot flashes (via Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine). Specifically, the Committee states that a vegan diet made up of legumes, fruits, and vegetables might have a beneficial impact on hot flashes.

Not every suggestion on this list follows a vegan diet, since this meal plan typically doesn't include foods that come from animals (via WebMD). These include not only meats, but also products like honey, eggs, and dairy. And of course, before you begin a vegan diet, you should speak with a medical professional. With that said, like soybeans other legumes also have phytoestrogens, which might be helpful treatments for menopause-related health issues, including hot flashes (per Clinical Cases in Mineral and Bone Metabolism). In fact, the Cleveland Clinic notes that lentils, dried beans, and mung beans are rich in phytoestrogens.

In addition, according to MedlinePlus, legumes might help with high blood pressure. And a study by Weill Cornell Medical College found a connection between elevated blood pressure and hot flashes in women. However, if you suspect that you have high blood pressure, you should not only speak with a medical professional, but also consider purchasing a home blood pressure monitor.

If you have hot flashes and are a fan of tomato juice, you might think you've found the perfect solution for your health problem. But not so fast. There is some fine print to this potential treatment. In fact, the wrong type of tomato juice could make your hot flashes worse.

According to Prevention, a study in Nutrition Journal concluded that drinking 200 milliliters of tomato juice twice daily for eight weeks might reduce menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, as well as irritability and anxiety. Dr. Steven A. Rabin, an obstetrician and gynecologist specializing in patients with menopause, said that tomato juice contains gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is a neurotransmitter that might help with both stress and hot flashes. However, it's important to note that the 95 women who participated in the study drank unsalted tomato juice, which can make a big difference when it comes to hot flashes.

As Healthline points out, the majority of tomato juices on the market contain large amounts of sodium. So, despite tomato juice's potential to help with hot flashes, drinking sodium-rich beverages on a regular basis could lead to high blood pressure (per Cochrane Library). Additionally, a study by Weill Cornell Medical College found that high blood pressure and hot flashes can go hand in hand. The bottom line is that it's important to be a conscientious consumer when you're choosing the best foods to include in your menopause-friendly diet.

How many varieties of apples are there? A dozen? Maybe two dozen? Actually, according to Britannica, there's thousands. But even if no type of apple is your go-to snack, you might want to reconsider if you have menopause-related hot flashes.

As OnHealth explains, apples contain phytoestrogens, which might help with menopause-related symptoms. In a nutshell, estrogen can drop during menopause, but phytoestrogens are similar enough to estrogen that they might help compensate for the lower estrogen levels and help with symptoms like hot flashes. Additionally, apples have boron, which might help maintain estrogen levels. Plus, apples have fiber and that might help with weight management (via Harvard). According to the National Institute of Aging, being overweight or obese can increase how often and severely a woman experiences hot flashes.

Still, despite all the potentially beneficial boxes apples check, apples can also contain large amounts of pesticides (depending, of course, on how they're grown), per Harvard. And here's where you can run into a catch-22: Most of the fiber and phytochemicals in an apple are in its peel, and yet it's recommended to peel an apple to help get rid of pesticides. So, if you want to add apples to your diet, you might want to look into organically grown ones.

For many, the first thing that pops into their head when they hear the word "banana" is a banana split. But this popular fruit can also be in health-conscious foods like gluten-free muffins and paleo-friendly bread. And yes, bananas are also potentially good additions to your diet if you're experiencing hot flashes.

As Henry Ford Health explains, practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine might recommend incorporating more "cooling foods" like bananas into one's diet to help combat hot flashes. According to Medical News Today, bananas are an excellent source of potassium, a mineral that can be helpful for patients with high blood pressure. This is in part because potassium helps to counteract the sodium in one's system and supports good heart health, per the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. Keeping one's blood pressure in a healthy range can have a beneficial effect on hot flashes.

Although bananas can be a healthy choice for one's diet, they can have some drawbacks, especially if eaten in large amounts. For one, a person taking beta-blockers might want to cut down on the bananas in their diet, since beta-blockers can increase potassium levels (via Medical News Today). While potassium can be good for blood pressure, large amounts of it can be bad for one's kidneys. Also, Anaphylaxis UK warns that it's possible to have a life-threatening allergic reaction to bananas.