Defense Nutrition's Natural Solution for Menopause
Menopause means cessation of menses. This is a transitional period in a woman's life, in which child bearing ability ceases and with that many women feel that they have lost their ability to sustain a youthful, healthy and attractive body. Menopause isn't a single event but rather a gradual process that starts anywhere from the ages of mid thirties through to the late forties. The menopausal years have been associated with emotional instability, hot flashes, weight gain (thickening of the body), disturbance in calcium, zinc and copper metabolism, diminished interest in sex (or excessive interest in some cases), backache, insomnia and anxiety - to name some of the most typical symptoms.
Perimenopausal and menopausal women are certainly the target of a multibillion dollar industry of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical drugs. These include hormones for HRT (routinely prescribed by doctors), anti-inflammatory and anti-depression drugs, and a host of commercial products over the counter, including herbal applications, potions, oils and creams. Yet in spite of all the doctor prescribed drugs, in spite of all the numerous products and "miracle cures", an average woman today reaches menopause earlier than ever before with worse symptoms than every before, and with an ever highest potential risk for cancer.
The purpose of this article is to shed some light on the facts behind menopause, expose some misconceptions and fallacies, explain why menopause does not have to hit so early and so hard, and finally help women realize that most menopausal symptoms can be greatly minimized or even prevented with proper knowledge and nutritional means.
The Problem
Menopause is perhaps the toughest time in a woman's life. In our society, menopause is associated with a loss of female sex appeal and youthful attractiveness. Menopause involves dramatic changes in the levels and balance of the female hormones, and these hormonal changes cause a host of side effects also known as menopausal symptoms. Nonetheless, the problem with menopause is not how it actually occurs but rather how it has been pre-aggravated and how it has been treated.
Menopause is inherently a normal condition that naturally takes place in a female body past the age of safe pregnancy. This is how nature may protect females and their offsprings from the dangers and risks involving an unhealthy pregnancy and delivery. During this period the ovaries stop ovulating and become less active in producing sex hormones. There are other variables that profoundly affect the hormonal changes in a woman's body before and during menopause. Most notable among them are nutrition, level of stress, age of puberty, heredity, and exposure to estrogenic chemicals.
Like any abrupt changes in the body's hormonal integrity, the drop in estrogen and progesterone and the shift in the balance between these two hormones during menopause cause physical and emotional side effects. These side effects or symptoms can be exacerbated by improper diets and aggravated by exposure to estrogenic chemicals. During menopause, estrogen becomes a dominate hormone over progesterone. Due to the cessation of ovulation, the ovaries do not produce a corpus luteum, an ovarian (follicular) tissue from which progesterone is made. Consequently, progesterone levels are shattered and estrogen becomes dominate in spite of its initial drop during menopause. Estrogenic chemicals further worsen this problem. Common exposure to industrial compounds, such as pesticides, petroleum-based detergents, plasticizers and hormones in conventional meat and diary, have shown to interrupt the body's hormonal balance, increasing estrogen levels with increased levels of estrogen metabolite toxins, causing sterility, disorders and cancer in women and men. This very dominance of estrogen in the body has been postulated to be the main contributor to the severity of many menopausal symptoms including mood swings, weight gain, water retention, sleep disorders, fatigue and a loss of libido.
This condition of estrogen dominance isn't exclusive to menopause. It actually affects many women today of all ages causing female disorders or worsening of existing symptoms (such as with menopause). There is evidence that the body can naturally improve its condition via proper nutritional means and exercise. However, the daily exposure to industrial estrogenic chemicals in the air, products, produce, meat, dairy and bottled water, combined with an inadequate diet, make it virtually impossible for the body to balance its hormones and recuperate. For that matter, anything that suppresses the body's natural defenses, anything that accelerates the dominance of estrogen, anything that inhibits progesterone, is part of the problem. And vice versa: anything that enhances the body's natural defenses, anything that promotes progesterone and balances it with estrogen is part of the solution.
This is where the Anti-Estrogenic Diet Jump Start Kit comes into play. The Kit was created to address the real causes of estrogen related disorders and provide natural relief without the typical side effects. Most importantly, the Anti-Estrogenic Diet Jump Start Kit isn't just effective in treating menopause symptoms, but also in preventing estrogen related cancers and stubborn fat gain. This basic kit provides a proprietary blend of natural estrogen inhibiting herbs, as well as a delicious meal replacement shake (your choice of delicious chocolate or vanilla).
The Solution
To properly address the solution, let's first review the two most prevalent approaches for treating menopause:
- Hormonal Replacement Therapy (HRT)
Menopause has been widely perceived as a "hormonal deficiency" disease. Since the 1960s, doctors are prescribing hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) as the means to compensate for the drop in the female sex hormones. Many doctors say that there is no other alternative to HRT but nonetheless sometimes feel obliged to warn against its side effects. Since the 1970s, there is growing evidence to the mortal side effects of estrogen replacement or combined estrogen + progestin (synthetic progesterone) therapy. Long term studies (as already documented in the New England Journal of Medicine, 1975) revealed that women who had used estrogen replacement for seven years or longer put themselves under a substantial increased risk for cancer - 14 times higher - than women at the same age who didn't use estrogen drugs. Other reports indicated that in middle-aged women on estrogen replacement therapy, the risk for cancer increases by five to seven times. Studies worldwide indicate that all kinds of estrogen supplementation (whether in the form of contraceptive pills or HRT) are a definite contributing factor for uterine cancer.
Cancer is not the only risk involving estrogen therapy. Studies at Oxford University showed a direct correlation between taking estrogen pills (birth control) and a five times increased chance to die from a heart attack. As for combined estrogen with progestin therapy, apparently the risk is almost as high as with estrogen alone therapy. Recent studies by the National Institute of Health reported that women who used combined estrogen and progestin for ten years increased their risk for having breast cancer by a hundred percent. Yet, in spite of the known side effects and risks involving HRT, millions of women today continue using it desperately trying to avoid symptoms of what they commonly perceive as a physically and mentally deteriorating condition.
- Natural Therapies
In view of the growing evidence linking HRT to cancer, many women today are choosing instead natural alternatives. Similar to HRT, the premise of natural alternative therapies for menopause is to compensate the body for the loss of the female sex hormones. Nonetheless, unlike HRT, natural hormonal therapies use natural products geared at promoting estrogen as well as progesterone. The nutraceutical industry is currently one of the fastest growing businesses manufacturing a large variety of products out of which many are targeting menopausal women, including herbal supplements, vitamins, minerals, oils and creams. Most notable among these products are estrogen-promoting phytochemicals and herbs including soy isoflavones, black cohosh, angelica and licorice. Other popular items include natural progesterone creams, women's vitamins and minerals formulas and essential oils. Yet, as mentioned previously, in spite of the numerous health products and natural cures, the average woman today suffers from worse menopausal symptoms than ever before and with an ever higher risk for cancer. Even though the risks involving natural therapies are apparently lower than the risks involving HRT, there remain unpleasant symptoms of menopause and still a substantial increased risk for cancer compared to women below the age of menopause. In spite of the positive research on the beneficial effects of natural phytoestrogens on relieving menopausal symptoms (particularly hot flashes), there is also evidence that some of these phytoestrogens such as in soy or black cohosh may actually increase the risk for cancer among women who are prone towards getting cancer. A woman today in the age of menopause faces a serious dilemma. She can either incorporate HRT, which may help lower the severity of some menopausal symptoms but meanwhile puts herself under an increased risk for cancer, or instead she can choose to use a natural approach but nonetheless may still suffer the unpleasant symptoms of menopause though with a lower risk for cancer, compared to the risk involving HRT.
It seems that any approach to treating menopause would be somewhat inadequate, and the choices available to a woman today are limited and difficult to make. Is this kind of an unfortunate destiny for a women in the age of menopause to never be able to make a good choice but rather settle with the "best among the worst" - and then continue doubting herself whether her choice is indeed the best she could have done? As you'll soon see, things don't necessarily have to be that way. There is something missing in the way women attempt to treat menopause today and this very missing element is most likely the missing link in the solution to treating menopause, alleviate its symptoms and minimizing the typical side effects or risks involved.
Menopause Relief - the REAL Solution
The one missing element in virtually all current treatments of menopause is the anti-estrogenic approach. As noted previously, all current approaches to treating menopause (whether HRT or natural therapies) are based on the premise that the loss of estrogen must be compensated and thus requires a replacement with estrogen drugs (HRT), or alternatively with phytoestrogens supplements (natural hormonal replacement). Both approaches overlook the fact that menopause involves hormonal changes in which estrogen becomes dominant over progesterone. Consequently, in spite of the initial drop in estrogen during menopause, there is still an excess of unbalanced estrogen in the body causing unpleasant side effects with serious health risks.
This problem of excess of estrogen during menopause must be addressed and the way to do that is by following a special nutritional plan with an anti-estrogenic approach. The premise of the anti-estrogenic approach is to provide the body with the nutritional means to counteract the excess of estrogen in the body while promoting progesterone. This way the body may be able to regain its capacity to sustain a healthier hormonal balance with a better metabolic environment to alleviate symptoms and also lower the typical health risks involved. But there is more that needs to be done. Excess of estrogen isn't the only problem associated with menopause. As noted, menopause involves a substantial drop in estrogen and an even more dramatic drop in progesterone. Menopause is quite a tricky condition and particularly regarding estrogen. In one hand estrogen levels drop and in the other hand estrogen becomes in excess. The failure to address this complexity of menopause is most likely why women today are often unable to alleviate menopausal symptoms or lower its typical health risks. As noted previously, estrogenic chemicals further aggravate this complicated condition with worsening symptoms and increased health risks. Again, this complexity of menopause must be addressed properly, otherwise any solution will be lacking and therefore inadequate.
For the sake of clarity here is a brief summary:
- The problem with menopause is its complexity: Estrogen and progesterone levels drop but estrogen becomes in excess over progesterone.
- The solution requires the means to compensate for the loss of estrogen and progesterone and at the same time counteract the excess of unbalanced estrogen in the body.
The Plan
It is widely believed that excess of estrogen in the body is the main contributor to female disorders and the severity of menopausal symptoms. Nonetheless, unlike female disorders, menopause is not a health disorder but rather a natural condition that may or may not develop into a disorder. What is unique about menopause is the fact that estrogen levels are declining but nevertheless remain in excess. The way to address this complexity is by incorporating a nutritional plan that protects the body from the excess of estrogen and at the same time enhances the already declining estrogen and particularly progesterone.
The way to protect the body from excess of estrogen is by increasing the intake of anti-estrogenic foods while avoiding estrogen-promoting chemicals. In addition to that, there are certain foods and herbs that can help promote progesterone, which is known to act as an estrogen balancing hormone. By naturally modulating estrogen through specific foods and supplements and by naturally promoting progesterone, it is possible to actually improve the hormonal balance in the body and thereby alleviate the severity of symptoms associated with excess of estrogen during menopause. (More information on how to naturally modulate estrogen and promote progesterone for a healthy hormonal balance in The Anti-Estrogenic Diet/North Atlantic Books at www.defensenutrition.com.)
Balancing estrogen is the first and most critical step but as previously noted there is more that needs to be done. Since menopause involves a decline in estrogen levels, it is recommended to supplement with natural estrogen promoting phytoestrogens or herbs such as soy isoflavones, black cohosh, licorice, sarsaparilla angelica, alfalfa and clover. This unique combination of natural estrogen promoting supplements with an estrogen balancing diet may naturally help address the whole complexity of menopause without compromising on any of its aspects.
A similar approach should be applied by women on HRT: To lower the risks involving HRT, it is recommended to incorporate an estrogen balancing diet and supplements such as mentioned previously. One of the major contributors to increased risk involving HRT is the conversion of estrogen to the harmful metabolites 16 hydroxy estrogens. These harmful metabolites are known to cause inflammation, growth of tissues and formation of tumors. The incorporation of estrogen modulating foods and herbs has shown to shift estrogen metabolism to produce instead the beneficial metabolites 2 hydroxy estrogens and thus help lower the risk involved with HRT. (More information in The Anti-Estrogenic Diet/Atlantic Books at www.defensenutrition.com.)
