5 Personal Habits That Dramatically Reduced My Hot Flashes

And what science says about them.

It’s my firm belief that you only truly appreciate life without hot flashes once you start having them. And that’s a crying shame.

But this also means that you really appreciate life when you can reduce the frequency, length, and intensity of hot flashes.

For the uninitiated, a hot flash occurs when a woman suddenly feels very hot, especially on the face, neck, and torso. This may be accompanied by sweating, anxiety, a rapid heart rate, and a flushed face. It’s a common symptom of perimenopause and menopause and can last anywhere from one to five minutes at a time and occur any time of day or night. If it’s very strong, a hot flash can leave you feeling chilled when it ends.

In other words: It’s not a lot of fun.

As a certified health coach and natural food chef, I try to live a healthy lifestyle. So when I started getting hot flashes, I did some reading to find methods of easing them and doubled down on my healthy habits.

I didn’t know whether anything I was doing helped.

Vacation wreaked havoc on my routines.

Then my family went on vacation, and I dropped my healthy routines over the holidays. The frequency, intensity, and length of my hot flashes increased so dramatically that I thought I was going to lose my mind.

Even my husband and daughters noticed how much worse and more numerous they’d become.

Still, I didn’t know whether my vacation and holiday lifestyle choices were a factor or if my hot flashes just got worse as a matter of course.

After New Year’s Eve, I returned to my pre-holiday routines and hoped for the best. And fortunately, I found the sweet relief I was looking for. Now it’s safe to say I’m a believer when it comes to the power of daily choices to improve life during perimenopause.

None of these little habits may have the power to make hot flashes go away entirely, but they can help turn down the dial.

Here are the five healthy strategies I now swear by.

I’ve found these five tips really work to decrease my hot flashes.

• Plan to get more sleep than normal

The days are long, and busy and start earlier than I’d like. Usually, I need 8 hours of sleep a night. Now I aim for more, for two reasons.

First, being well-rested makes it easier to handle challenges and uncomfortable situations (like hot flashes).

Second, I know it’s highly likely I will be awakened by a hot flash (or more than one), or have one while awake during the night. This requires taking the covers off, flipping my pillows over to the cool side, and repositioning so none of my sweaty limbs are touching one another or my torso. Then I try to fall back to sleep.

Sometimes it takes a while.

The solution that works for me? I get in bed at least 30 minutes earlier than normal and set my alarm for 15 minutes later in the morning. These may seem like small tweaks to my schedule, but I can feel the difference in how I am better rested.

One study observed that most hot flashes occur right before, upon, or after waking during the night. It’s not known for certain if waking up creates the conditions for a hot flash, or if they are just more likely to occur during the part of the sleep cycle when we are most likely to awake.

This seems a bit like the chicken and the egg question, and it doesn’t matter to those of us who experience hot flashes at night. What I do know is that a hot flash might interrupt my sleep time, so I aim to get more sleep to ensure I get enough. And that works for me because getting adequate sleep also makes it easier to handle any hot flashes that I might experience during the day.

• Limit alcohol

My usual habit is to drink only socially on the weekends, usually one of the nights. Sometimes both Friday and Saturday if we happen to have plans both nights. From Sunday to Thursday, I tell my husband not to even offer me a glass of wine to tempt me.

When we took the girls to Disney World in the middle of December and celebrated Christmas, the week between Christmas and New Year and New Year’s Eve, this little habit of mine also went out the window.

According to the CDC classifications, a woman who drinks 3 alcoholic drinks per week or less is a light drinker, 4–7 alcoholic drinks a week is a moderate drinker, and more than 7 alcoholic drinks per week is a heavier drinker. I hover between moderate and light during non-holiday times and moved into the heavier category over winter break.

Perhaps not surprisingly, my hot flashes seemed to be showing up extra hot and nearly hourly, and I felt pretty sure the increased alcohol consumption was to blame.

Science seems to agree. One Korean study found a clear link between levels of alcohol consumption and the prevalence and frequency of hot flashes, as well as with early onset symptoms. The Cleveland Clinic lists alcohol as a known hot flash trigger.

Once I reached my 40s I noticed that I don’t sleep as well after drinking alcohol, so that’s another reason to limit or avoid it.

After cutting back alcohol to just two drinks in the last 10 days, my nighttime hot flashes have gone from 3–4 bothersome ones a night to 1–2 that barely register.

• Magnesium pills and lotion at night

Healthy Me takes two magnesium pills and puts magnesium lotion on her legs when she gets into bed at night.

Vacation Me didn’t.

Though friends who are a little further along in the process than me suggested taking magnesium, the science is mixed on how helpful it truly is.

I was able to find older studies that suggested magnesium could help reduce hot flashes in up to 50% of women, but the more recent assessment is that there’s not enough evidence for doctors to prescribe it for this reason.

What I like about this habit is that the lotion smells great, and it signals to my body that it’s time to relax and rest (it also contains lavender oil). The pills remind me that I am taking care of myself through this transition in life.

Is there a placebo effect going on? Maybe, or I could be among the lucky ones who it helps. Regardless, I’m sticking with it because I enjoy it, and it can’t hurt!

• Strength training 4x a week

I work out at home, in a room shared with my daughter’s pet bunny. He runs around while I work out. We’re workout partners.

The bunny didn’t come on vacation, and the weights didn’t see much use over the holidays. (I was too busy cooking and baking cookies.)

Every time I stop working out for more than a few days I feel it, mentally first and then physically. Yet, since entering perimenopause I feel that the physical effects happen more quickly. It’s harder to maintain muscle without working out. This is partly what led me to focus on strength training.

Building strength seems to be a goal that is more within my control than weight loss is at this age. It is notoriously hard to lose weight during perimenopause. I’m sometimes bothered that I weigh more than I did 20 years ago, but my BMI is still in the normal range, so I’ve decided to let it go.

Before the holidays, my exercise routine included three or four 30-minute strength training workouts (either with weights or body weight) and a daily two-mile walk at lunchtime with my dogs.

During the holidays, I kept the two-mile-a-day walk habit but dropped the strength training. This was not enough to reduce my hot flashes, which may be explained by the results of one study I found showing that exercise can decrease hot flashes by improving the body’s thermoregulatory control if the exercise improves cardiorespiratory fitness.

The strength training tends to raise my heart rate more than the walks, so it makes sense that the walks were not enough to reduce my hot flashes. Some sources proclaim that any increase in exercise can help hot flashes, but I’m skeptical. I’ll keep walking because I enjoy it, my dogs need it, and it offers mental benefits, but I am going to make sure I stick with the strength training for counteracting perimenopausal symptoms.

• Mainly whole foods, limited processed foods high in sugar and salt

Twelve years ago, I did a year-long plant-based chef training program.

Since then, my in-house cooking tends to be on the healthy side. However, while traveling and during the holidays, a lot more convenience foods, sugar, salt, and fat were on my plate—and in my stomach. I wasn’t able to completely avoid dairy at some meals when options were lacking.

It was fun for a while. And then it wasn’t.

Every January, I’m excited and ready to double down on healthy, lower-fat cooking. This year it’s even more so.

I’ve found that sugar makes the brain fog worse, salt makes me feel bloated and crave more sugar, and fat, well, makes me gain weight. Not a good combo.

Now I’ve returned to the basics: bean-based soups, salads, roasted vegetables, whole grains, fruit, and nuts. I am enjoying these foods immensely and appreciating the fewer and less intense hot flashes I am experiencing too.

In this case, my experience is backed by science.

In a new study published in December 2023 of postmenopausal women experiencing hot flashes, they experienced 95% fewer hot flashes on a low-fat vegan diet that contained soy. And severe hot flashes disappeared completely. These changes were attributed to a change in the gut microbiome as a result of the diet.

While I’m perimenopausal, this matches my experience quite closely and is another reason I will maintain my usual lower-fat vegan diet, with plenty of my beloved tofu included, going forward.

What has worked for you to reduce hot flashes?

Seventy-five percent of women will experience hot flashes during perimenopause and menopause.

Hormone replacement therapy is the most prescription treatment, but not everyone is interested or able to take that. No treatment has been found that works for everyone. So the more women who share what works for them, perhaps the more likely it will be that we can all find a way to find some relief.

Like alcohol, I have also read that caffeine and spicy food can be triggers for hot flashes too. I haven’t noticed that myself, so thankfully, I still enjoy a morning coffee (or two) and various hot sauces.

If my hot flashes get bad, would I be willing to give up coffee? I don’t know; that would be a tough one…

What changes are you willing to make to reduce hot flashes, and what’s non-negotiable? What has worked for you so far?