Many of our perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms are associated with inflammation, and ginger is anti-inflammatory and can help! Our lower estrogen levels drive systemic inflammation, which in turn impact our bone density, our joint and muscle strength and even our brain health. Happily, as we teach in our 12-week Sage Menopause Strategies program, anti-inflammatory diets go a long way toward eliminating these symptoms.

During perimenopause, our body’s metabolism changes and many of us become more sensitive to a lot of things, including, sadly, alcohol. We can no longer drink our favorite cocktail or glass of winewithout feeling lousy. You may have trouble sleeping after drinking alcohol. Or you may get bigger headaches from drinking. Some of us may get “hung over” after just one or two glasses. Or you may feel intoxicated much more quickly.

Alcohol is also one of the foods that triggers hot flashes. As difficult as it sounds, reducing or eliminating alcohol intake at this moment in midlifecan lessen our perimenopausalsymptoms and improve our long-term health. This shift in your intake can be temporary or permanent and will make a difference either way.

And don’t get us wrong: the cocktail hour is still very important! It’s a time to unwind, relax, and separate our work day from our playtime. This recipe makes our new cocktail hour easy and delicious, and still special. Whip some up in advance and have it on hand to mix with fizzy water. You may not even miss your glass of wine!

For More Ideas:

To try another tasty mocktail, see the Sparkling Clementina Mocktail on Little Green’s website.

Try adding herbal tinctures to these mocktails for extra relaxation, see skullcap, passionflower and kava kava on the beloved Mountain Rose Herbs site.

For more on other anti-inflammatory foods that are great for menopause, please read our nourishment page.