Women who eat more pasta tend to get menopause earlier

A study of more than 900 women in the UK has found that eating more white pasta and rice is linked to getting menopause earlier, while a diet rich in oily fish is linked to later menopause. However, it is not possible to tell if these diets directly affect the onset of menopause, or if they merely reflect some other, hidden factor.

Janet Cade, at the University of Leeds, UK, and colleagues analysed data from 900 women who experienced menopause between the ages of 40 and 65. They found that the average age of menopause was 51, but that certain foods were associated with when menopause begun.

Women who ate an additional daily portion of refined white pasta or rice tended to reach menopause around one-and-a-half years earlier than average, while an extra daily serving of oily fish was associated with a delay of more than three years.

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