Natural Support for Menopause  


In honor of Women's History Month, I'd like to celebrate the rite of passage in every woman's life called Menopause.  The average life expectancy for women has soared from 62 years at the beginning of the 20th century to about 80 years at the beginning of the 21st century.  Recent polls indicate that more women than ever before are taking charge of their own health and making changes earlier in their lives to protect themselves in their middle and older age.  Women as a group are more active than ever as they age and they are boldly blazing the trail for future generations to come.  Because of this, they are changing the landscape of healthcare and its focus to be more about the prevention of illness and health issues often associated with menopause.

Of course, menopause is NOT an illness, it is a natural phase in a woman's life and was often viewed by a few cultures throughout history as a time when women truly become themselves.  Their children are older, or grown and on their own, and menopause signaled a time of independence for women when they became the wise elders of a tribe or culture who were often revered and consulted on very important matters within their communities.  Unfortunately, more cultures in our human history have had a tendency to subjugate women of all ages, treating the natural female biology as "evil".  Menstruation is a "curse" and menopause meant the woman was no longer useful.  These kinds of negative ideas have certainly crept into our own culture up to even the recent past, but women themselves are breaking the stereotypes and reclaiming the power that they have always owned.

While menopause is not an illness, for some women it can be a bit of a nightmare.  Some women can ease through this transition with no symptomatology at all, while others may suffer the full range of menopausal issues; hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, headaches, weight gain, vaginal dryness, urinary incontinence,  low sex drive, anxiety, bloating, heart palpitations, loss of concentration, irritability, fatigue and insomnia.  Exercise levels and dietary choices, as usual, can have a HUGE impact on whether a woman going through menopause is going to have these kinds of symptoms or not.  Stress levels play a very important role in determining how a woman transitions through these changes, as well.

Fortunately, there is a lot of help available from the natural healing world when it comes to preventing or treating menopausal symptoms.  Even if you are nowhere near the age of typical menopause (usually anywhere from ages 45 to 55), there are a lot of nutritional approaches you can be using to ensure your own transition is as comfortable as possible when you do get there.  Studies have found that 85% of our bone mass is formed by age 16, so it is especially important for children to be getting proper exercise and adequate calcium and vitamin D intake to help themselves be healthier older adults, too.  Two of the biggest health concerns after a woman goes through menopause are osteoporosis and heart disease.  It is best to attain a healthier lifestyle BEFORE you enter into menopause to prevent these problems, but then again, it's NEVER too late to start being healthier!

One of the most widely used herbs for menopause is Black Cohosh (Cimifuga racemosa), an herb widely used by Native American Indians and called "cohosh" in reference to the rough root, which is the part that is used.  This plant has estrogen-like qualities and is often used to normalize hormonal imbalances in both menstruation and in menopause.  It is considered one of the best remedies for hot flashes and night sweats. Black Cohosh is also a wonderful nervine and muscle relaxant and is widely used for headaches, pain and muscle spasms.  As a natural anti-inflammatory, it can help arthritis, and muscular and neurological pain, and is naturally high in calcium, along with moderate amounts of magnesium which helps maintain bone health.

Dong Quai (Angelica sinensis) and Chaste Tree Berries (Vitex agnus casus) are both well-known and well-studied herbs used for women in menopause.  Dong Quai, also known as dong qui and tang kwei, is a Chinese herb that has been used for thousands of years and has also been called "the female ginseng", although men use this herb as well.  It is actually used at all ages and phases for women as it helps regulate hormonal production and has a mildly stimulating and cleansing action on the liver, in addition to acting as a gentle nervine which helps calm and relax the system.  Because it may stimulate bleeding, it is not recommended during the actual week of a menstrual cycle, but instead the weeks before and after.  Chaste Tree, also known as "Vitex", also helps normalize hormonal production, especially enhancing the progesterone cycle, and has a stimulating effect on the pituitary gland.

To help promote a healthy heart and healthy bones, and to help attain more balanced hormonal levels, a woman should generally avoid animal products such as meats and cow-dairy products, especially those animals given hormones and antibiotics in their food.  Eating more plant-based and raw foods can be very helpful and soy has helped a lot of women just on its own to ease the natural female transitions of  menstruation, pregnancy and menopause.  Soy is high in healthy protein and also isoflavones, powerful antioxidants which provide special hormone-mimicking actions.  Soy isoflavones have been shown to block hormone receptor sites, thus inhibiting the growth of hormone-dependent cancers.  These isoflavones have also been effective at reducing various menopausal symptoms while also slowing the rate of bone loss.  Some studies indicate that soy isoflavones have actually facilitated new bone growth.

These are just a few examples of the many choices women have these days to help themselves transition through menopause with little or no trouble from the pesky symptoms that can accompany this "change of life".  The Shaklee Women's Health Solutions (Menopausal) Product Pack combines these nutrients and more into one convenient package that gives a 30 day supply of total support for women in menopause, and is conveniently available for purchase through Rehabmart.  Embrace this very special change in your life and celebrate your independence with good health.  Menopause has never felt so good...we've come a long way, baby!

To view herbal and natural products, please go to the Vitamins, Supplements, Minerals, Herbs, Nutrition, Phytonutrients, Energy Supplements, Natural Sleep Aids  page.

DISCLAIMER:  These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are for educational purposes only.  These statements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.


Carol Koenigsknecht, Medical Consumer Writer
and
Hulet Smith, OT
Rehabmart Team Leader & CEO