Food Energetics, Fermented Foods and Easing Common Menopause Symptoms

May 26, 2025

Eating out-of-season foods is hard to avoid today, as food stores have a year-round supply of almost all fruit and vegetables, including non-native varieties.

Preservation methods were used in the past, including during my childhood, to minimize food wastage and shortages. I remember working with both my grandmothers in the summer and autumn months to make jams, pickled vegetables, and create juices and conserves of fruit. Crab apple jelly, whole preserved blueberries and lingon berries along with spicy piccalilly are some that I recall gracing our dinner table throughout the winter months.

In even earlier times before artificial refrigeration fermentation was a vital way to reduce spoilage and was used not only to preserve foods but to change and improve flavour, textures and even the effects of food on the body (brewing alcohol), unwittingly deepening humans symbiotic relationship with microbes. Fermentation is a natural phenomenon that creates transformative energies that are intrinsic to life.

Today fermented foods are back in fashion, think kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, yoghurts and kombucha. The distinct flavors of sourdough made from ‘wild yeast’ compared to mass-produced sliced bread. Of course, there are many fermented foods that we eat daily without connecting that they are fermented: miso, soy sauce, salmais, cheeses, vinegar, wine, beer, and even chocolate, as fermented cocoa beans give it its distinct flavour.

For the microbiome fermented foods are vital to our microbiome as they contain probiotic micro-organisms as well as digestive enzymes. And that although fermented foods have short lived time in the gastro-intestinal tract due to it’s acidity they can make a significant impact on activating, regulating and modifying cardiovascular, metabolic, immunological and digestive functions.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the energetic effects of fermented foods will depend on the ingredients and the precise fermentation process. Fermentation often produces a sour flavour that is connected to the Wood element and its associated organs, the Liver and Gallbladder. The beneficial microorganisms found in fermented foods may be considered supportive of the Liver system and the smooth flow of Qi.

According to TCM, the role of the Liver (Wood) element is linked to emotions like stress, resentment, and anger, something perimenopausal women know all too well. Balancing the Liver with ‘sour’ fermented foods can be part of a strategy to help reduce irritability and improve mood during menopause. Simple ways to include more of these into our diet are swapping sweetened low-fat yoghurts for plain full-fat yoghurt and kefir. Or choosing sourdough over processed bread. Learning to make your own sourdough is a great skill, though I admit one I am still mastering with mixed success.

Salty flavours are noticeable in fermented soy products such as miso, tamari, tofu, and tempeh, along with kimchi, supportive of the energetic balance of the Kidney system and Jing (energetic essence). During perimenopause, it is important to conserve our Kidney energy and support the slowing of the inevitable decline of Jing that accompanies aging.

From a nutritional perspective, these foods are rich in isoflavones, phytoestrogens that our gut bacteria can convert into substances similar to estrogen, even though they are not hormones. Adding soy foods to a balanced diet can bring extra benefits:

Heart health: Soy protein with isoflavones can lower cholesterol and reduce heart disease risk, thanks to low saturated fat and antioxidant effects.
Stronger bones: Trials suggest soy proteins rich in isoflavones may help slow bone loss.
Cancer risk reduction: Higher soy food intake is linked to lower risks of lung, gastric, and breast cancers.

Finding ways to introduce more of these foods into our diet is something I suggest to my clients, though do try to use organic and GMO-free soya and products and avoid the processed stuff, aka fake meat.

Lately, I have been embracing more organic tempeh as opposed to tofu. Tempeh is made from fermented soybeans. It’s packed with protein, fibre, B vitamins, and antioxidant isoflavones. It’s delicious grilled, stir-fried, or tossed into a salad or used in place of minced meat. You can marinate it with sesame oil, tamari, maple syrup, and paprika. Then grill, fry, or bake and add to lunch bowls or salads. Bake the tempeh until crispy and toss with rice noodles, mint, peanuts, and peanut-lime dressing. Or crumble it and add to your favourite tomato sauce instead of meat in a spaghetti bol.

Have you been eating more fermented foods? If you have tried tempeh, what has been your favourite way of eating it?

with love

C xo

Heart of Menopause

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