1. Healthy Diet
A nourishing, unprocessed diet is key for boosting your intake of essential nutrients, helping your body adjust to changing hormones, managing your weight and reducing your intake of empty calories. Foods that are most helpful during menopause include organic fruits and veggies, high-fiber foods like nuts and seeds, omega-3 foods, probiotics, clean and lean proteins like fish or grass-fed meat, healthy fats such as olive and coconut oil, and foods that supply natural phytoestrogens, including flax and fermented soy.

2. Exercise
Keeping up with an exercise routine consisting of aerobic and strength-training exercise at least three or more times per week can result in improvements in bodyweight, sleep quality, insomnia or depression symptoms, bone density, muscle mass, and inflammation. Even if you haven’t been active in the past, it’s never too late to start getting the benefits of exercise.

3. Supplements and Herbal Treatments
Herbs and supplements that can help mitigate certain symptoms of perimenopause (such as anxiety, fatigue, hot flashes and sleep-related problems) include omega-3 fatty acids, adaptogen herbs such as maca or American ginseng, black cohosh, red clover, raspberry leaf, vitex and St. John’s wort.

4. Getting Proper Sleep
Sleep is important for restoring energy, balancing hormones, keeping cortisol levels under control, and reducing anxiety or depression. Aim for seven to nine hours a night. If you have trouble sleeping (as many perimenopausal women do), try using hormone-balancing essential oils such as lavender, reading or writing in a journal, taking magnesium supplements, using Epsom salts in a warm bath prior to bed, turning down the temperature in your room, and practicing mind-body practices such as yoga and meditation.

5. Stress-Reducing/Mind-Body Practices
Because sleep problems, anxiety, fatigue and depression tend to climb during the transition into menopause, it’s important to manage stress as best you can. Ways to do this include natural stress relievers like exercising, spending time outdoors, meditation or prayer, seeking social support, joining a helpful cause or volunteering, reading something inspirational and uplifting, and doing something creative.