Menopause

The majority of women experiencing menopause require some kind of HRT to help alleviate their sufferings, and even women prior to menopause can suffer symptoms of hormonal imbalance if they have a poor diet or are missing out on important vitamins. Both sets of women can suffer from a variety of symptoms, including pains in the breasts, feelings of bloating after eating, unexplained weight gain, insomnia, depression and anxiety, and even more severe problems such as loss of calcium and lower bone density, and arthritis. All of this can leave a woman feeling very unhappy, and may expose her to other risks such as breast cancer. In many cases, bioidentical hormone replacement therapy can help a woman to get back on her feet.

There are two main hormones whose loss is responsible for the symptoms which women suffer. The powerful estrogen hormone is responsible for the pre-menstrual cycle, and its loss can cause tenderness in the breast, an eruption of allergies or skin symptoms and severe mood swings. While these problems can be treated with traditional HRT, many woman experience continued symptoms due to the loss of another hormone, Progesterone. The majority of HRT treatments do not add this, and only bioidentical hormone replacement therapy can really replace both types of hormones through one treatment.

The bio-identical hormones are created using organic hormones which are developed in a lab using plant-based hormones. These allow them to be recognized by the body more easily than the typical HRT product, which is created from synthetic hormones. The latter are usually obtained through animal products, and can increase the risk of cancer and high blood pressure. Instead, bioidentical hormone replacement therapy provides the taker with a completely organic and natural substance which will allow them to get what they need from the therapy without having to absorb too many non-organic chemicals.

It is not always a good idea to accept non-organic replacement hormones when you are suffering from a pre-menopausal problem, as the latter can sometimes be triggered by the body's reaction to chemicals. If you have suffered from allergies in the past, then bio-identical hormones will always be a much better response, and gives you an alternative to synthetic hormones.

You may need to speak to several doctors before you can find one who is ready to allow you to avoid synthetic hormones, and instead choose a bio-identical hormone replacement therapy that can help you to reduce the risks of weight gain and high blood pressure that can sometimes be caused by unnatural chemicals.

For more facts on using natural HRT, talk to the specialists at http://www.thehealthychoice.net/ today. The Healthy Choice specializes in compounding customized medications and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy to fit each patient's individual requirements. It believes in treating the whole person and the integrative approach to health care gives doctors and patients cutting edge alternatives to mainstream treatments.

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Did you know that women in their 40s and 50s need about 200 calories fewer per day than women in their twenties and thirties?

Women in their menopause years can gain 1 to 1 ½ pounds per year, if they continue with the food and lifestyle choices they made during their younger years. That slow, sneaky weight gain can add 10 to 15, or more pounds to your body before you hit menopause!

Here are a few suggestions that will help you have your youthful figure:
Start going for a 30 minute walk every morning to get fresh oxygen into your brain and body and rev up your metabolism for the day.
Start cooking with coconut oil rather than butter, grapeseed, olive or other oils! Yes, coconut oil has been proven to be a healthy cooking oil that'll help you release body fat!
Are you sick of having a jelly belly? Most women during their menopause years are dismayed to notice that they have extra belly fat that's difficult - "impossible"- to get rid of. Now researchers are identifying natural, nutrient-dense foods that when eaten regularly reduce abdominal fat - especially when combined with regular exercise and eliminating intake of non-foods, sugar and fried foods. These belly fat eliminators include apples - try eating three apples a day, watermelons, tomatoes (large: 33 calories), bananas (75 to 135 calories), tart cherries, raw celery (a negative calorie food - 8 calories per rib), avocados - a nutrition powerhouse, and kelp noodles (6 calories).
Choose to stop eating wheat products, including the ones you've been told are 'healthy' for you. Many women notice their bellies reduce almost overnight when they avoid eating wheat pasta and baked goods.
Here's a little known nutrition secret...start taking a daily multi-mineral supplement so your body gets the micronutrients it's REALLY craving when you think it wants a salty junk food. You cannot absorb vitamins when you are missing minerals, and minerals are missing from our food that's grown in minerally depleted soil. When you satisfy your body with nutrients it needs, you'll no longer have those irresistible cravings for fatty, 0-nutrient foods that are currently contributing to your weight gain. And yes, this small change will set you up to live longer, healthier too!
Don't eat anything with added sugar - those calories are stored rather than burned, and sugar causes many imbalances and deficiencies in your body.
Stop drinking that glass of wine every night with dinner! It's a recipe for weight gain during your menopause years. If you enjoy wine that much, treat yourself to a glass or two - one night a week. A former co-worker of mine looked forward to Friday because that was her 'Wine Night'!
Don't eat anything past 6 pm. Drink water or herbal tea only.
Start doing a nutritional cleanse three to four times a year. It's a healthy weight management tool since it releases the fat that stores body toxins, adds nutrients and reduces calories. Most cleansers notice pounds and inches lost in days.
With a little care, planning and updating your food and lifestyle choices, you can avoid or eliminate weight gain during your menopause years!

Wendy Vineyard is a holistic health practitioner, lifestyle coach and wellness journalist. She specializes in inspiring and empowering women to thrive during menopause naturally - without drugs or added hormones. Are natural remedies the best way to handle your menopause transition? You decide. http://www.naturalmenopausenow.com/ http://www.facebook.com/NaturalMenopauseNow

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What is a diet for menopause? It is a diet that can help with your stress, as well as the stress on your body. It is a diet that does not add extra, to your already growing waist line, due to hormonal changes and the stress on your body.

This is a diet that gives you soft supple skin, energy and shiny eyes. It is a diet that makes you feel so good, you will want to get up out of your chair and move, and bend, stretch and walk.

Whole foods fill you up, are packed with great vitamins and minerals, and they are very low in calories. These are natural, raw, real foods with names like sweet potato, avocado, spinach, almond, and cucumber. Another foreign sounding thing to consider is water. Clean, pure, body craving water.

When you decide to start eating healthier, your headaches and constipation are better. And you didn't even know how bad you felt, until you started to feel better.

So now you have decided to consider you diet for menopause. This diet involves whole fresh foods and lots of water. What does this change eliminate?

It eliminates that sluggish, sleeping feeling you get from eating frozen, processed. diet meals.

The headaches, anxiety and constipation diminish because you are no longer downing fried, fast foods.

The dull skin, puffy eyes and expanding waist line from dairy laden pizza, mac and cheese and drive through food is a thing of the past.

And the wrinkles and depression from diet pop, sugary coffee drinks and lack of water are not so noticeable.

Sometimes it is more about what you don't eat, than what you do eat, that matters and makes a difference. Whole foods fill you up, are packed with great vitamins and minerals, and they are very low in calories. Sounds like a win-win thing to consider. Where do you start?

Start at the beginning and go from there. See if you feel better.

1. Substitute a vegetable or salad for French fries. This is a conscious start. Think about what to put in your body that is healthy. You body needs to last another 30-50 years. Help it as much as you can, so you can feel really well, as you age.

2. Order "just water, please" instead of a medium soda. This is so simple, and less expensive. Our body is 90% water. Everything in it fires and runs and blinks on water. Give your body what it craves.

3.Consider fresh juice instead of a pastry at snack, Not processed orange or apple juice, which contains a ton of sugar, but 'made from scratch' juice. The best thing about juice is it tastes amazing.

I love a glass of juice made from: supergreens and water, green grapes and green apples, cucumbers and spinach. It's so fresh, and light and tart and delicious. Juice is seriously good, and good for us. Juice is also packed with nutrients; it is filling, and is really, really low in calories.

Little changes make big differences. You may feel run down, sluggish and yucky because of what you ate. Consideration of the fuel you put in our mouth is important. Adding healthier choices is a consideration when it comes to your diet for menopause.

Corby Campbell Shields
Co-Author Menopause Master Plan
http://www.menopausemasterplan.com/

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Many women go through menopause without any emotional changes at all. Some women experience a sense of relief or even elation at the new freedom that menopause presents: freedom from pregnancy and monthly menses. For others though, menopause is associated with symptoms that are similar to the emotional changes seen prior to their menstrual cycle: fatigue, insomnia, nervousness, irritability, or mild depression. These symptoms are similar to those of PMS. The emotional changes seen in menopause are often associated with hot flashes and insomnia (an interruption of REM sleep).

The number of women afflicted with depression during the menopausal years is not more than the 8 to 10 percent prevalence that is seen throughout the reproductive years. Two groups of women are at increased risk: those experiencing surgical menopause (surgical removal of the ovaries) and those with a previous history of depression. In surgical menopause, the sudden drop in the level of both estrogen and androgen (male hormone) is associated with a greater incidence of emotional changes and depression.

Stressful events are also known to trigger emotional changes and depression. Stressful life events coincide with menopause, which may make it harder to determine the cause of the mood changes. Family or work situations may fuel fatigue, sadness, or low energy level, all of which are symptoms that may be profound in a clinical depression. When a woman has an underlying depression, the low levels of estrogen seen in menopause, or perimenopause, may accentuate the depression.

Many women require no treatment for symptoms associated with menopause. Others prefer to try dietary changes (phytoestrogens), exercise and psychotherapy before considering a trial of medication. Helpful medications include estrogen, which alleviates hot flashes and therefore helps promote restful sleep. Some women feel better on estrogen even if they are not suffering from hot flashes. Women who have undergone surgical menopause may benefit from the addition of testosterone (androgen) if they suffer significant emotional symptoms that are not relieved by estrogen alone. In certain cases, antidepressant medication, such as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, or cyclic antidepressants, is warranted. These medications affect the uptake of brain neurotransmitters linked to clinical depression.

I hope this gives you some insight into the emotional changes that occur during menopause. Is it wise to stop the antidepressants and see how she does on the hormones alone? No. Treating her depression is crucial and continuing the antidepressants is appropriate. When she feels well, it may be possible to taper her off the antidepressants. But even then, it should only be done with the support and guidance of her psychiatrist. I hope she feels better soon.

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