About MenoCalc

Standard calorie calculators were never designed for menopausal women. They use the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which relies on age, height, weight, and a generic activity multiplier — completely ignoring the hormonal changes that fundamentally alter how your body processes food, stores fat, and burns calories.

We created MenoCalc because we saw a gap: millions of women entering perimenopause and menopause were being given the same generic nutrition advice as 25-year-olds, despite their bodies working very differently. Declining estrogen shifts fat storage to the abdomen, increases insulin resistance, reduces muscle protein synthesis, and slows resting metabolic rate by 100–300 calories per day.

Our calculator accounts for these changes. It adjusts your calorie targets based on your menopause phase (perimenopause, menopause, or post-menopause), whether you're on HRT, your symptom severity, your activity level, and your body composition goals. The result is a personalized nutrition plan that reflects your actual physiology, not a generic estimate.

MenoCalc starts with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation for resting metabolic rate, which has been validated across diverse populations in peer-reviewed research. We then apply research-backed modifiers based on clinical studies of menopause and nutrition:

Menopause Metabolic Penalty: A 5–15% reduction in Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) attributed to hormonal changes, based on research published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism and Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society.

HRT Adjustment: Women on hormone replacement therapy maintain a slightly higher resting energy expenditure (approximately 75 kcal/day higher), based on metabolic chamber studies comparing HRT users to non-users.

Anabolic Resistance Protein Modifier: Increased protein targets (1.2–1.6 g/kg) to counteract the reduced muscle protein synthesis efficiency during menopause, based on recommendations from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Symptom Severity Modifier: Severe hot flashes and sleep disruption elevate cortisol and further reduce metabolic efficiency. Our calculator applies a more conservative calorie target for women reporting severe symptoms.

All formulas and modifiers are documented transparently. We believe you should understand exactly how your numbers are calculated, not trust a black box.

MenoCalc is and always will be free to use. We believe every woman deserves access to accurate, science-based nutrition guidance during one of the most significant metabolic transitions of her life.

We are committed to keeping MenoCalc independent and transparent. Our calculator is not influenced by supplement companies, diet programs, or pharmaceutical interests. The formulas we use are based on peer-reviewed research, and we clearly document every adjustment we make to your calorie and macro targets.

If you have questions about our methodology, want to suggest improvements, or need help interpreting your results, please reach out to us at info@menocalc.com. We read every message and continually improve the calculator based on user feedback and new research.

MenoCalc was developed by a team of nutrition scientists and software engineers with expertise in women's health and metabolic research. Our advisory approach is grounded in peer-reviewed research from leading journals including the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, The Lancet, and Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society.

Every formula and adjustment in our calculator is traceable to published clinical research. We do not invent recommendations or rely on popular diet trends. Our metabolic adjustments reflect the documented 5-10% decline in resting metabolic rate during menopause transitions, as established by multiple longitudinal studies. Our protein recommendations follow the 1.2-1.6g/kg guideline for older adults published by Churchward-Venne et al. (2016) in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

We actively seek review from healthcare professionals specializing in menopause nutrition. If you are a registered dietitian, endocrinologist, or menopause specialist and would like to contribute to our methodology review, we welcome your expertise. Contact us at info@menocalc.com.

Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, Hill LA, et al. A new predictive equation for resting metabolic rate in healthy individuals. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1990;51(2):241-247. -- The foundational equation used to calculate basal metabolic rate, validated across diverse populations.

Katch FI, McArdle WD. Prediction of body density from skinfold thickness and limb circumference. Human Biology. 1975;47(3):369-377. -- The body composition formula enabling fat mass and lean mass differentiation in our calculations.

Lovejoy JC, Champagne CM, de Jonge L, et al. Increased visceral fat and decreased energy expenditure in the menopausal transition. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 2008;93(6):2184-2191. -- Key study documenting the metabolic shift and visceral fat increase during menopause.

Sims ST, Shea LD, et al. Menopause and physical activity. Menopause. 2013;20(2):153-155. -- Research on how exercise needs change during menopause transitions.

Churchward-Venne TA, Breen L, Di Donato DM, et al. Leucine supplementation of lower protein diets does not overcome anabolic resistance in older adults. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2016;104(4):1052-1061. -- Foundation for our elevated protein recommendations for menopausal women.

Davis SR, Castelo-Branco C, Chedrai P, et al. Understanding weight gain at menopause. Climacteric. 2012;15(5):419-429. -- Comprehensive review of the hormonal mechanisms driving menopausal weight changes.