Get Healthy with Tina

Menopause Made Easy

Forget the media stereotype of a menopausal woman, who is overweight, fatigued, emotional and irrational with no sex drive. Ladies this does not have to be you, menopause should be a time for celebration in the woman’s life, the end of childbearing and the need for contraception. In some cultures they celebrate it, just like the celebration of a first menses for girls. The western world has labeled it a disease and now there are many medications for that disease, anti-anxiety meds, anti-depressants, hormone replacement therapy just to name a few.

“ Menopause literally means the "end of monthly cycles" (the end of monthly periods or menstruation), from the Greek word pausis(cessation) and the root men- (month). Menopause is an event that typically occurs to women in midlife, during their late 40s or early 50s, and it signals the end of the fertile phase of a woman's life”, It can occur immediately with surgical removal of a woman’s uterus or over time, known as peri- menopause which can last from months to years. It is really important that other organs and systems are working well in the body.

With the end of the ovaries producing estrogen and progesterone it is up to our adrenal glands and fat cells to take over and release small amounts of estrogen and progesterone. Estrogen is a feminine hormone and it plays numerous important roles in the body, including ones supporting reproduction, cardiovascular health and promoting new bone growth. Progesterone is produced to support an implantation of an embryo in the uterus, it also has a powerful anti anxiety action and provides us with the feel good factor. These two hormones need to be in balance two much estrogen in the body can create a very emotional, angry, fiery, teary woman.

The relationship between stress and sex hormones.

Adrenal glands are responsible for producing many hormones in particular adrenaline and cortisol in response to stress. Adrenaline our short term stress hormone and cortisol in response to long term stress. The years of working, raising a family, being everything to everybody with no time to herself, can leave a woman feeling very fatigued, suffering from adrenal fatigue, lowered immunity, increased inflammation, depression, thyroid dysfunction can really affect a woman’s health. With her adrenal hormone output low, so will be her endogenous production of estrogen and progesterone.

Fellow naturopaths have labeled menopause as “adrenopause”, the cessation of production of adrenal hormones. As woman It is all about looking after ourselves, having some time for ourselves, getting good sleep, good foods, time out of the home with friends, exercise, practice deep breathing every day, start with 20 each and every day, exhale, take a big breath into your abdomen, hold and slowly exhale, and repeat. This can be done at the traffic lights, in the bath, watching tv, at the park , it is the best way to slow the sympathetic nervous system that drives the adrenal response. Put it in your diary to do hourly at work, the more we practice the easier it becomes a new way of breathing.

Think about the exercise you are doing, lots of high impact, endurance exercise will increase the demand for cortisol, where as yoga will help to calm and restore the body, take a class and give it a go. Think about the foods you are consuming, a diet that is high in vegetables, oily fish, whole grains, herbs and spices, fish, fruit will nourish your body. Coffee and alcohol are best avoided on a daily basis, save them for special occasions, they can place a real drain on the adrenals and are very toxic to the liver. Herbal supplements to restore and support adrenal health can be very useful, Withania, Rhodiola, Licorice, Siberian Ginseng, for personal advise a herbalist will make you up your own specific formulation.

Getting a good nights sleep is so important, do not eat 2hours before bed, relax with a book or a bath before bed, go to bed at a regular time, sleep before midnight is more restorative. If you wake lie quietly and practice some belly breaths, great way to stop thinking about all the chores you have to do. Get up at the same time daily, and have a sleep in once per week.

Our liver the biggest organ in our body is responsible for over 500 functions in the body including digesting our foods and all things that enter our body , we need that to be working well. The liver has to mobilize the toxins, bind them up and then get them ready to be excreted out of the body via the lymphatic system, bowels, respiration and urination. When the liver is over burdened people present with tiredness and fatigue, and hormonal imbalances. After estrogen has done its job in the body it is up to the liver if it will break the estrogen down or recycle it. If the liver is overloaded with liver loaders, alcohol, coffee, foods high in sugar and zenoestrogens from plastic’s, pesticides and chlorine based products it will be unable to function efficiently and a build up of estrogen will occur will occur and increased anger and aggression, and hormonal imbalance. The problem with zenoestrogens is that they are very similar chemical structure to our own endogenous supply and sit on our own hormone receptors, and mimic the affect of estrogen, and we have a woman with high estrogen and low progesterone, the hormonal imbalance. Some useful liver herbs include milk thistle, schizandra, globe artichoke and dandelion. A herbal formulation for a menopausal woman may include adrenal and liver support, nervine herbs for the nervous system, sage for sweating and black cohosh for estrogen support.

Another consideration is the impact of elevated acidity levels in the body which are shown to raise some liver enzymes. Consume a large handul of green leafy vegetables per day, have a green smoothie daily, add in some spinach, barely grass, spiriulina, wheat grass, broccoli seed, kale powder. Drink plenty of fresh water, listen to a mediation cd in the bath, relax.

Ladies you will have your own personal experience with menopause, take responsibility for your lifestyle and your health will be under your control.