'Leptin is the hormone that inhibits hunger so diet drinks like Diet Coke actually make you hungry and less satisfied with normal amounts of food, and finally when you eat or drink a lot of chemicals that your body simply cannot break down, your body makes more and more internal fat to wrap the chemicals in keeping those harmful chemicals away from your vital organs.
Also, a few things can cause early menopause such as smoking. If you've had a hysterectomy (the removal of the uterus without the removal of your ovaries) you may go into menopause a little earlier than you normally would have because of the decreasing hormones and waning effects on the ovaries.
Some people call the years leading up to a woman's last period menopause, but that time actually is the menopausal transition, or perimenopause (PER-ee-MEN-oh-pawz). During the time of the menopausal transition (perimenopause), your periods can stop for a while and then start again. Therefore, the only way to know if you have gone through menopause is if you have not had your period for one year. (And it's not menopause if your periods stop for some other reason, like being sick.) The average age of menopause is 51, but for some women it happens as early as 40 or as late as 55.