Perimenopause Is More Than Hot Flashes: The Truth Black Women Need to Hear This September

September Is Perimenopause Awareness Month.

Let’s Break the Silence

Let’s be clear: perimenopause isn’t a sprint. It’s more like a marathon through hormonal chaos, and it often comes with surprise detours. This month, we’re bringing perimenopause from the backseat to the front in a real, bold, and compassionate way.

Understanding what’s happening in our bodies, and why, sets the stage for powerful, sustainable changes. And yes, especially for Black women, this is about claiming clarity and validation in a system that too often overlooks our lived experience.

Why Black Women Often Face More Severe & Longer‑Lasting Symptoms

First, know that your experience is not just personal, it’s patterned, structural, biological, and absolutely valid. Studies show Black women often enter perimenopause about 8 to 9 months earlier and endure a longer duration of symptoms, sometimes up to 10 years compared to about 6 for others (Harlow et al., 2022; Wegrzynowicz et al., 2025). The “weathering” effect, your body absorbing years of chronic stress, systemic bias, caregiving burdens, is real and health-deepening (Harlow et al., 2022; Kochersberger et al., 2024). Knowing that this isn’t just a hormonal quirk, it’s biological gravity shaped by lived inequity, gives us both context and fuel for change.

The Symptoms You Don’t Hear About (Until Now)

Perimenopause is not a uniform experience. It’s a mosaic of shifts, some expected, others entirely under-communicated. That’s why we're naming symptoms you may not hear about in light-filled self-care ads:

• One client told us she has experienced random hives, a true histamine hijack tied to hormone shifts.

• Joint aches that sneak up and stick around.

• Subtle dental or gum changes: yes, estrogen loss affects more than your mood.

• Bladder Betrayal: the sneeze-laugh-hide scenario no one talks about.

• Digestive chaos: unpredictable bloat or tummy mood swings.

• Brain fog that feels like menopause traffic in your thoughts.

• Insomnia, restless nights, melatonin derails.

  
  

These aren’t made up or in your head. They’re common, sneaky, and often overlooked by traditional “menopause” convos. Recognizing them is the first step toward easing them.

Nutrition & Lifestyle: What Makes It Worse

When your body is juggling hormonal cascade after cascade, certain habits fan the flames:

• Alcohol, caffeine, refined sugar, ultra-processed junk; they’re like tossing kindling on a fire.

• Diet culture “solutions” and weight-demonizing messaging stress you out further, fueling symptom intensity.

• Irregular meals or poor sleep rhythms derail hormonal feedback loops and gut balance, both key to mood, bladder, and heat regulation.

These stressors don’t make you weak, they simply add to the load. But they're also among the most modifiable elements in your daily rhythm.

Nutrition & Habits That Actually Help

Here’s what moves the needle and the evidence backs it:

1. Plant-powered, low-fat patterns with daily soybeans led to up to 95% reduction in total hot flashes over 12 weeks. (Barnard et al., 2022; Kahleova, 2023; Women’s Health Society, 2025).

2. Cutting AGEs through plant-forward nutrition slashed heat-wave frequency and severity (Kahleova et al., 2024).

3. One study with 4,287 participants found that eating 30 different plants per week lowered psychological symptoms by 44% and physical symptoms by 32% (King’s College London & ZOE, 2024).

4. Flaxseed lignans and phytoestrogens offer gentle hormone modulation; great for mood, brain fog, and vasomotor balance.

5. Sustainable whole food shifts (fruits, greens, legumes, whole grains) build long-term foundation and symptom ease.

Think of these not as diet rules but as building blocks for hormonal peace, gut calm, and mind clarity.

Why These Moves Matter for Your Brain, Heart & Long-Term Health

These aren’t quick fixes. They’re longevity tools. When symptoms remain untreated, elevated risk of cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s markers, and cardiovascular strain rises (Wikipedia, 2025). Eating to balance hormones isn’t vanity; it’s lifelong immune, metabolic, and cognitive insurance. Every whole food nourishing your body is a future‑proofing act.

Your Next Moves

You’re not here to just survive; you’re here to thrive. Start where change meets easiest action:

• Blend a smoothie with flaxseed + fresh fruit + legumes.

• Swap one packaged snack for whole‑food delight.

• Track! You’re aiming for 30 unique plant foods weekly (teas count, herbs count, frozen veg counts).

Think of the Menopause support recipe collection as your shortcut, not a challenge. Browse healing recipes that hug your hormones and honor your time. Download our Menopause Recipe Collection here.

Join Our Menopause Community in the BetterChoices App where you can connect, share, and find tools to balance your journey.

This is your place for community that laughs at this transition and cares deeply about how it lands for you.

💬 Comment, DM, or Share:

Share your experiences, comments, or questions below or share them in the BC App community group. Let us support your shift. You’re not doing this alone.

References

Barnard, N. D., et al. (2022). A dietary intervention consisting of a plant-based diet, minimizing oils, and daily soybeans significantly reduced vasomotor symptoms. Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 26(3), 345–359.

Harlow, S. D., et al. (2022). Disparities in Reproductive Aging and Midlife Health between Black and White women. Menopause Review, 18(2), 123–136.

Kahleova, H., et al. (2024). Reduction in advanced glycation end-products through a low-fat vegan diet with soybeans reduces hot flash severity by 92%. Menopause Journal, 31(1), 45–53.

Kahleova, H. (2023). Total hot flashes decreased by 95% on a vegan diet. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 75, 102–110.

King’s College London & ZOE. (2024). Eating 30 plants a week reduces menopause symptoms by up to 44% (psychological) and 32% (physical). The Times.

Wegrzynowicz, A. K., et al. (2025). African American women were more likely to experience severe vasomotor dysfunction during perimenopause. Journal of Women's Healthy Aging, 12(1), 14–22.