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Overview
Natural Hormone Replacement TherapiesAs a woman nears the end of her childbearing years, her body's production of estrogen and progesterone fluctuate and gradually decrease, often resulting in the uncomfortable symptoms of menopause. Beginning in the 1970's, women were prescribed synthetic versions of both hormones. After years of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), the Women's Health Initiative released the results of numerous studies indicating that women who took HRT past menopause were at increased risks of some cancers. Many women today look for natural sources to calm their fluctuating hormones.
Symptoms
Menopause affects every woman differently. Some women breeze through their menopausal years with very few negative symptoms while other women experience severe hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, heart palpitations and insomnia. If your symptoms are bothersome and you don't want to take chemical HRT, consider supplementing your diet and lifestyle with natural hormone replacement products.
Diet
Just altering your diet to include more dairy and soy products may offset mild menopausal symptoms. Reduce your intake of spicy foods that increase circulation and trigger hot flashes, such as chili peppers and caffeine. Soy is available in an increasing assortment of foods, including soy nuts, soy milk, tofu and tempeh. Reduce your intake of foods high in saturated fats and add whole grains, dark leafy greens and dark orange vegetables to your diet. Get plenty of calcium from dairy products. A woman's chances of bone loss increases after menopause.
Herbal
If pharmaceutical companies can use plant extracts to develop HRT, you can use the natural form of the plant to achieve a similar effect. Some herbal botanicals show promising results in balancing a woman's roller coaster hormones and calming her nerves. Look for black cohosh tea and capsules, wild yam creams, dong quai, ground soybean capsules, red clover tea and valerian root tea or capsules. Each of these provides a form of estrogen known as phytoestrogens that may offer you some relief.
Risks
After menopause, a woman's risk of bone loss is not the only concern. Healthy lifestyle changes may reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. If a woman has a family history of stroke, she may be at an increased risk after menopause. Maintaining a healthy weight and eliminating smoking and alcohol consumption may help reduce the risk of stroke in postmenopausal women.
Prevention/Solution
A woman's doctor is her first line of defense against the symptoms of menopause. Most doctors will encourage the use of natural hormone replacement therapy (NHRT) a custom blend of naturally derived estrogen and progestin hormones, mixed at a pharmacy, according to the doctor's recommendation for each patient. The dosage may be altered until the symptoms of menopause are relieved.
