Key TakeawaysHot flashes are a common symptom of menopause, affecting approximately 80% of people going through the transition.According to a recent study, a sedentary lifestyle may lead to more nighttime hot flashes, which can have a negative effect on a person’s quality of life and even play a role in their cardiovascular disease risk.While there appeared to be a link between being less active and having more hot flashes, the researchers were surprised that moderate-to-vigorous levels of physical activity did not seem to be linked to hot flash frequency.

Key Takeaways

Hot flashes are a common symptom of menopause, affecting approximately 80% of people going through the transition.According to a recent study, a sedentary lifestyle may lead to more nighttime hot flashes, which can have a negative effect on a person’s quality of life and even play a role in their cardiovascular disease risk.While there appeared to be a link between being less active and having more hot flashes, the researchers were surprised that moderate-to-vigorous levels of physical activity did not seem to be linked to hot flash frequency.

The transition to menopause can come with a range of symptoms, includingweight gain, thinning hair, dry skin, and mood changes. Many people also experience intense moments of heat called hot flashes,especially at nightwhen they’re trying to sleep.

If you’re going through menopause and having hot flashes, you might be looking for a way to relieve or even prevent the uncomfortable, disruptive symptom.

If you’re in the midst of a hot flash, working up a sweat at the gym is probably the last thing you’d expect to make you feel better. However, according to new research, being sedentary might make your hot flashes more frequent.

What Are Hot Flashes?

Hot Flashes During Menopause

Imagine feeling comfortable one moment, then experiencing a wave of heat overcoming your body the next. When a person has a hot flash, they may feel extremely warm and get sweaty. Their face can also turn red andbecome flushed.

When hot flashes occur at night, they can disrupt sleep, which in turn has a negative effect on daytime functioning, mental health, and quality of life.

A relationship between symptoms of depression and subjective sleep disturbances has also been documented in people going through themenopausal transition.

Why Do Hot Flashes Happen?

The cause of hot flashes is not fully understood, but experts believe that the symptom is likely related to the hormonal changes that occur during menopause.

About 80% of people experience hot flashes during menopause.

“We know that the hypothalamus, which controls our body temperature, is sensitive to the decrease in estrogen as we approach menopause,” Carmen Stansberry, MSN, FNP-C, WHNP-BC, a California-based family and women’s health nurse practitioner, tells Verywell. “This, in turn, causes the release of other chemical messengers in the body that attempts to cool the body down through perspiration.”

Vasomotor Menopause Symptoms

The Effect of a Sedentary Lifestyle

Hot flashes are a source of discomfort, but research has also shown that hot flashes and night sweats are associated with an increased risk ofcardiovascular disease.That’s yet another reason why it’s so important to find ways to alleviate hot flashes for people during menopause.

For the new study, which was presented at the North American Menopause Society Annual Meeting in September, researchers wanted to investigate whether lifestyle factors, including activity levels, had an effect on the incidence of hot flashes throughout the menopausal transition.

To find out, the researchers evaluated 13 premenopausal, 29 perimenopausal, and 24 postmenopausal women who were45 to 55 years old.The researchers asked the women about their experiences with hot flashes and measured their daily physical activity levels.

Natural Treatments for Menopause Symptoms

Physical Activity and Hot Flashes

The researchers were surprised that they did not find an association between the participants’ subjective hot flash frequency and the amount of any form of physical activity that they engaged in.

Therefore, while sedentary behavior might be associated with the frequency of nighttime hot flashes, time spent participating in a moderate or vigorous activity did not appear to have any effect.

Elizabeth M. Ward, MS, RDWomen with hot flashes should take note of these encouraging findings.

Elizabeth M. Ward, MS, RD

Women with hot flashes should take note of these encouraging findings.

“While this study had a small sample of women over a short duration of time, it still reinforces that light activity—such as shopping, gardening, and staying active—can have a direct impact on the prevalence of hot flashes, and possibly even cardiovascular disease,” says Stansberry. “The bottom line is, you may not necessarily need a vigorous workout to impact vascular dysfunction, which has an effect on blood pressure and other early CVD risk factors.

Can You Still Get Hot Flashes After Menopause?

Elizabeth M. Ward, MS, RD, co-author of “The Menopause Diet Plan: A Natural Guide to Hormones, Health, and Happiness,” tells Verywell that “women with hot flashes should take note of these encouraging findings that found that simply moving around more during the day—without doing moderate- or vigorous-intensity exercise—helps decrease the frequency of nighttime hot flashes.”

Ward says that people going through menopause should still exercise on most days of the week for their heart health, to help them get better sleep, and to reduce stress—regardless of whether it alleviates their hot flashes.

How to Naturally Reduce Hot Flashes

In addition to being more active during the day, there are also other natural ways to handle hot flashes. That said, the things that trigger hot flashes can be different from one person to the next, which is why Stansberry says the process of finding what works can be “trial and error.”

There are also some things that you can start doing or continue to do that may give you some relief from hot flashes. For example, Stansberry suggests adding moreplant estrogens(like soybeans) to your diet, which “have also been shown to decrease hot flash occurrence."

It’s also important to take care of your mental health. Ward says that a type of talk therapy called cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) might help decrease hot flashes, but can also “help improve mood, sleep, and quality of life.”

As for other natural approaches to coping with hot flashes and othermenopause symptoms, some people find alternative methods likeacupuncturehelpful.

How to Relieve Hot Flashes During Menopause

Stansberry says that research on menopause is “not robust, to say the least,” but that as more studies are published, “thecause of hot flashesand how they relate to overall health will become more clear.” Once researchers have that clarity, the hope is that “more targeted preventative therapies and treatments” will soon follow.

In the meantime, avoiding a sedentary lifestyle will benefit your health beyond menopause, and it may even help you cope with hot flashes as you make the transition.

What This Means For YouIf you’re going through menopause, making some changes to your lifestyle may ease nighttime hot flashes. Not spending too much time being sedentary, adding more plant-based foods to your diet, and quitting smoking are just a few examples of lifestyle changes that may help reduce hot flashes.

What This Means For You

If you’re going through menopause, making some changes to your lifestyle may ease nighttime hot flashes. Not spending too much time being sedentary, adding more plant-based foods to your diet, and quitting smoking are just a few examples of lifestyle changes that may help reduce hot flashes.

8 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Shifren JL, Gass MLS.The North American Menopause Society recommendations for clinical care of midlife women.Menopause. 2014;21(10):1038-1062. doi:10.1097/gme.0000000000000319Baker FC, Lampio L, Saaresranta T, Polo-Kantola P.Sleep and sleep disorders in the menopausal transition.Sleep Med Clin. 2018;13(3):443-456. doi:10.1016/j.jsmc.2018.04.011Bromberger JT, Kravitz HM, Youk A, Schott LL, Joffe H.Patterns of depressive disorders across 13 years and their determinants among midlife women: SWAN mental health study.J Affect Disord.2016 Dec;206:31-40. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2016.07.005Bansal R, Aggarwal N.Menopausal hot flashes: a concise review.J Midlife Health. 2019;10(1):6-13. doi:10.4103/jmh.JMH_7_19Zhu D, Chung HF, Dobson AJ, et al.Vasomotor menopausal symptoms and risk of cardiovascular disease: a pooled analysis of six prospective studies.Am J Obstet Gynecol.2020 Dec;223(6):898.e1-898.e16. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2020.06.039Evard R, Rickson JJ, Shreyer S, Witkowski S, Brown DE, Siever LL.Physical activity intensity predicts objective but not subjective hot flash experience. North American Menopause Society.North American Menopause Society.A sedentary lifestyle can lead to more nighttime hot flashes.Barnard ND, Kahleova H, Holtz DN.The Women’s Study for the Alleviation of Vasomotor Symptoms (WAVS): a randomized, controlled trial of a plant-based diet and whole soybeans for postmenopausal women.Menopause. 2021 Jul 12;28(10):1150-1156. doi:10.1097/GME.0000000000001812

8 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Shifren JL, Gass MLS.The North American Menopause Society recommendations for clinical care of midlife women.Menopause. 2014;21(10):1038-1062. doi:10.1097/gme.0000000000000319Baker FC, Lampio L, Saaresranta T, Polo-Kantola P.Sleep and sleep disorders in the menopausal transition.Sleep Med Clin. 2018;13(3):443-456. doi:10.1016/j.jsmc.2018.04.011Bromberger JT, Kravitz HM, Youk A, Schott LL, Joffe H.Patterns of depressive disorders across 13 years and their determinants among midlife women: SWAN mental health study.J Affect Disord.2016 Dec;206:31-40. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2016.07.005Bansal R, Aggarwal N.Menopausal hot flashes: a concise review.J Midlife Health. 2019;10(1):6-13. doi:10.4103/jmh.JMH_7_19Zhu D, Chung HF, Dobson AJ, et al.Vasomotor menopausal symptoms and risk of cardiovascular disease: a pooled analysis of six prospective studies.Am J Obstet Gynecol.2020 Dec;223(6):898.e1-898.e16. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2020.06.039Evard R, Rickson JJ, Shreyer S, Witkowski S, Brown DE, Siever LL.Physical activity intensity predicts objective but not subjective hot flash experience. North American Menopause Society.North American Menopause Society.A sedentary lifestyle can lead to more nighttime hot flashes.Barnard ND, Kahleova H, Holtz DN.The Women’s Study for the Alleviation of Vasomotor Symptoms (WAVS): a randomized, controlled trial of a plant-based diet and whole soybeans for postmenopausal women.Menopause. 2021 Jul 12;28(10):1150-1156. doi:10.1097/GME.0000000000001812

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Shifren JL, Gass MLS.The North American Menopause Society recommendations for clinical care of midlife women.Menopause. 2014;21(10):1038-1062. doi:10.1097/gme.0000000000000319Baker FC, Lampio L, Saaresranta T, Polo-Kantola P.Sleep and sleep disorders in the menopausal transition.Sleep Med Clin. 2018;13(3):443-456. doi:10.1016/j.jsmc.2018.04.011Bromberger JT, Kravitz HM, Youk A, Schott LL, Joffe H.Patterns of depressive disorders across 13 years and their determinants among midlife women: SWAN mental health study.J Affect Disord.2016 Dec;206:31-40. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2016.07.005Bansal R, Aggarwal N.Menopausal hot flashes: a concise review.J Midlife Health. 2019;10(1):6-13. doi:10.4103/jmh.JMH_7_19Zhu D, Chung HF, Dobson AJ, et al.Vasomotor menopausal symptoms and risk of cardiovascular disease: a pooled analysis of six prospective studies.Am J Obstet Gynecol.2020 Dec;223(6):898.e1-898.e16. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2020.06.039Evard R, Rickson JJ, Shreyer S, Witkowski S, Brown DE, Siever LL.Physical activity intensity predicts objective but not subjective hot flash experience. North American Menopause Society.North American Menopause Society.A sedentary lifestyle can lead to more nighttime hot flashes.Barnard ND, Kahleova H, Holtz DN.The Women’s Study for the Alleviation of Vasomotor Symptoms (WAVS): a randomized, controlled trial of a plant-based diet and whole soybeans for postmenopausal women.Menopause. 2021 Jul 12;28(10):1150-1156. doi:10.1097/GME.0000000000001812

Shifren JL, Gass MLS.The North American Menopause Society recommendations for clinical care of midlife women.Menopause. 2014;21(10):1038-1062. doi:10.1097/gme.0000000000000319

Baker FC, Lampio L, Saaresranta T, Polo-Kantola P.Sleep and sleep disorders in the menopausal transition.Sleep Med Clin. 2018;13(3):443-456. doi:10.1016/j.jsmc.2018.04.011

Bromberger JT, Kravitz HM, Youk A, Schott LL, Joffe H.Patterns of depressive disorders across 13 years and their determinants among midlife women: SWAN mental health study.J Affect Disord.2016 Dec;206:31-40. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2016.07.005

Bansal R, Aggarwal N.Menopausal hot flashes: a concise review.J Midlife Health. 2019;10(1):6-13. doi:10.4103/jmh.JMH_7_19

Zhu D, Chung HF, Dobson AJ, et al.Vasomotor menopausal symptoms and risk of cardiovascular disease: a pooled analysis of six prospective studies.Am J Obstet Gynecol.2020 Dec;223(6):898.e1-898.e16. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2020.06.039

Evard R, Rickson JJ, Shreyer S, Witkowski S, Brown DE, Siever LL.Physical activity intensity predicts objective but not subjective hot flash experience. North American Menopause Society.

North American Menopause Society.A sedentary lifestyle can lead to more nighttime hot flashes.

Barnard ND, Kahleova H, Holtz DN.The Women’s Study for the Alleviation of Vasomotor Symptoms (WAVS): a randomized, controlled trial of a plant-based diet and whole soybeans for postmenopausal women.Menopause. 2021 Jul 12;28(10):1150-1156. doi:10.1097/GME.0000000000001812

Meet Our Medical Expert Board

Share Feedback

Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit

Was this page helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!

What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit

What is your feedback?