High Blood Sugar, Hot Flashes & Menopause Belly: My Summer Wake-Up Call

High Blood Sugar Kept Me Awake This Summer.

I thought it was just the heat here in Ontario and the fact that my husband and I were sharing a cozy queen instead of our big king bed at home. But then a lightbulb went off… I had been eating way more sugar than I do in my “normal” life.

Between the butter tarts and carrot cake that kept entering my cottage (why was everyone on a carrot cake and butter tart binge this summer??), I had dessert almost every day for a week. And of course, I couldn’t say "no" the leftovers kept peeking out at me from the fridge (this is why I don’t keep sweets in the house).

Those little nibbles crept up on me, leaving me with restless nights and a jiggly belly. I could feel it wobbling during my workout this morning.

As a nutritionist for women 40+, this was a good reminder that hormone therapy (which I take myself) can only do so much. It’s one tool, but diet and lifestyle choices still matter when it comes to keeping menopause symptoms in check. When you notice how a certain food affects your body, especially your blood sugar levels, it’s worth pausing and asking yourself if it’s worth it.

Blood Sugar and Menopause Symptoms: The Research

Up to 80% of women experience hot flashes in midlife, and they can last on average 7–10 years. A study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that women who followed a Mediterranean-style diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and fibre reported fewer hot flashes and night sweats, while diets high in sugar and saturated fat increased the risk. Women who lost weight while improving their diet often saw symptoms decrease or disappear within a year.

Why? While the exact reasons aren’t fully defined but it may be because:

• Women with a healthy diet tend to follow healthier lifestyle habits overall

• Foods low on the glycemic index (like lean proteins, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds) help stabilize blood sugar and estrogen levels

• A low sugar, high fibre diet reduces inflammation, helping blood vessels function better

How Insulin Resistance Fuels the “Menopause Belly”

Insulin resistance happens when your cells stop responding properly to insulin, the “key” that unlocks your cells so that glucose (sugar) can get in and fuel your body. If you give your body too much fuel (overeating, under-exercising, or both), your cells get full and don’t “open the door” for insulin. Glucose then circulates in your blood, gets stored in your liver for later, and if your liver’s full, it’s stored in your fat cells, often around your midsection.

Estrogen plays an important role here as well. As it declines during perimenopause and menopause, our cells become less responsive to insulin. That means we’re less efficient at moving glucose into our cells to be used for energy. If it’s not used in muscle, it ends up stored in the liver or as body fat. And for me, being away from my gym and my heavy weights, those online bodyweight workouts I did at the cottage just didn’t cut it… hello, jiggly belly.

The Identity Piece

It’s yet another reason to be mindful of how closely our food choices, exercise habits, and lifestyle are tied to our health, energy, and comfort in our own skin.

When you see yourself as a healthy, strong woman thriving in midlife, you’re more likely to make choices that support that identity. You don’t just “go on a diet”, you live in a way that aligns with the woman you want to be. Sometimes that means enjoying the carrot cake, but it also means listening when your body says it’s had enough and adjusting accordingly.

If you want a clear, personalized snapshot of how your daily choices stack up and where a few small tweaks could make a big difference, take my Habit Quiz.  It’s a quick way to see if your habits are truly supporting the healthy, thriving woman you want to be.