Natural Ways and Remedies to Help with Menopause Symptoms

For some women, going through menopause is like any other day. But for most women the symptoms can be overwhelming and oftentimes a living nightmare. Many woman, out of desperation turn to using remedies such as hormones and other prescription medications to ease the discomfort. Yet a natural "green" diet can get you through menopause without the use of drugs.

Around ninety percent of woman experience menopause symptoms that usually last at least a year. However, some women can experience menopause symptoms up to ten years. A study by the U.S. National Library of Medicine shows that by the third year of menopause forty percent of women still had hot flashes, thirty-two percent had moodiness, twenty-five percent had headaches, twenty-five percent had urinary symptoms and fifteen percent had vaginal dryness.

Osteoporosis is a disease that robs bones of their strength and density leaving them thin, brittle, and more apt to break. It will affect one in four women after menopause. Eventually the bone mass is so weak that they no longer can support the body. Osteoporosis affects thirty-five to fifty percent of post-menopausal woman. To prevent osteoporosis you need hormonal balance, a healthy lifestyle, and a healthy green diet. Good prevention and remedies for osteoporosis says Dr Page, is a healthy "green" diet consisting of fresh green salads, sea vegetables, plenty of calcium rich foods such as broccoli, fish, and yogurt. Avoid red meats, sugar, caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, and salt. You should also get plenty of weight bearing exercises to build bones and prevent bones loss.

Linda Rector-Page N.D. PhD, author of Healthy Healing, says that most menopause symptoms are caused by adrenal gland exhaustion and poor liver function which prevent necessary estrogen from processing correctly. As well, many doctors believe that as the body ages estrogen levels drop which play a large role in menopause symptoms.

Adverse symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes and mood swings can be caused by a deficiency in nutrition, a lack of exercise, poor diet, thyroid imbalance, exhausted adrenals, poor food absorption, vitamin deficiency and emotional stress. Symptoms often can be: hot flashes, fatigue, night sweats, insomnia, unstable behavior such as bouts of crying for no reason, palpitations, skin and vaginal dryness, sometimes male characteristics such as facial hair, irritability, Osteoporosis, atrophy, mood swings, headaches, abdominal pain, backaches, leg cramps, nose bleeds, frequent bruising, varicose veins and sometimes ulcers.

Many specialists also agree that an organic green diet can prevent many menopause symptoms.

Prevention

It is usually best to start preparing for menopause years before the onset. Women lose about 40% bone density every year post menopause and over 50% of post menopause women are calcium deficient. The average age for menopause in America is now 51.7.

Natural Green Remedies

Recent studies found that using hormone replacement therapy (synthetic hormones) may put woman at risk for breast cancer, blood clots, heart attacks, and strokes. It is not recommended for woman, says Dr Page, with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, breast or uterine fibroids, or endometriosis.

Natural estrogen's found in plants are often recommended to lessen the physical and emotional symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes and mood swings. Natural estrogen's can be part of a daily diet. However, some researchers caution taking high doses of phytoestrogens for it may cause problems with development and fertility. Many experts state that plant estrogen's should be avoided if you take certain medicines like tamoxifen, which is used in breast cancer.

Estrogen is produced mainly in the ovaries that regulates moods, the menstrual cycle, and fertility. As you get older the body starts producing less estrogen. You can balance estrogen levels by increasing the levels of natural boron and eating estrogen like compounds found in foods such as green leafy vegetables, fruits, nuts, and legumes. A diet that contains boron is also good for hardening the bones,preventing osteoporosis, reducing mood swings and hot flashes. An organic green diet high in boron is a fabulous way to balance your estrogen levels. Remedies for regulating moods and the menstrual cycle are found in what you eat and can prevent many menopause symptoms.

Phyto-hormones or plant estrogen hormones are similar to human estrogen. Phyto-hormones are effective in balancing the hormones and can help with hot flashes and night sweats.

An organic "green" diet that contains phyto-hormones includes soybeans and wild yams, and herbs such as evening primrose oil to help with mood swings, milk thistle seed for liver support and normalizing estrogen, ginseng for energy, dong Quai, burdock root, kelp and sea vegetables, chlorella, sarsaparilla, royal jelly and damiana.

In the book Nutrition Almanac by Nutrition Search, Inc. they suggest a diet with the following vitamins and minerals to help with menopause: Vitamin E (up to 1,200 IU), B complex to relieve irritability, vitamin C to increase capillary strength, a balance of calcium and phosphorus, increase your protein and decrease your carbohydrates, Vitamin D, iron, and magnesium.