Hot flashes help through diet and herbs

Website design By BotEap.comHot flash help is available without hormones or drugs. Hot flashes and sweats are one of the earliest, most bothersome, and most common complaints of menopause. Hot flashes and sweats affect 80% of Western women as they pass childbearing years. But not all women in the world experience hot flashes and sweats the way women do in Western cultures. For example, Japanese women are reported to experience far fewer hot flashes. It is reported that only 10 to 15 percent of Japanese women experience hot flashes, night sweats, and other symptoms of menopause, such as mood swings, dry skin, vaginal dryness, irritability, depression, anxiety, fatigue, sexual problems, and sleep problems. Urinary tract. Japanese women also suffer from much less breast cancer than their Western counterparts. A newsletter of the American Cancer Society, Cancer facts and figures states that women in the US are 4.5 times more likely to die of breast cancer than Japanese women.

Website design By BotEap.comWhy do Western women suffer and Japanese women don’t? Much of the difference between Japanese women and their Western counterparts when it comes to menopausal discomforts, including hot flashes and sweats, is attributed to our different diets. The Japanese consume a lot of soy in the form of tofu, fermented soy products, and soy milk. Soy contains phytoestrogens, or plant-derived hormones, that have an estrogenic effect on the human body. This effect is mild compared to human estrogens (estrone, estradiol, and estriol), but it can be significant and therapeutic. Eating foods that contain phytoestrogens replaces estrogens lost with decreased secretion of estrogens from the ovaries during perimenopause and menopause. The net effect is an easier transition through the menopause with fewer and less severe menopausal symptoms, just as experienced by Japanese women.

Website design By BotEap.comEat key foods that contain phytoestrogens. Soybeans and flaxseeds are two phytoestrogen-containing foods that are particularly helpful with regard to menopausal symptoms. A study published in the British Journal of Medicine in 1990 documents the benefits of soy and flaxseed. Women suffering from the typical symptoms of perimenopause and menopause (mean age 59) added soybeans (6 tablespoons of soybean meal) or flaxseed (2 tablespoons) every day. One of the main complaints of perimenopause and menopause is vaginal dryness. This occurs when decreased estrogen levels result in less secretion of vaginal mucus. As a measure of the benefit of soy and/or flaxseed, each woman’s vaginal mucus discharge was assessed before and six weeks after the diet change. In just six weeks the women experienced a renewed lubrication of the vaginal tissues, up to their premenopausal state. A study in Maturitas: Journal of Climacteric and Postmenopause reported a 40% decrease in hot flashes, sweats, palpitations, headaches, depression, fatigue, irritability and nervousness, sleep disturbances, depression, and loss of sexual desire with soy. The diets of 58 women were supplemented with 6 tablespoons of soybean meal per day. The improvement was experienced in six weeks. Phytoestrogens are found naturally in many of the foods we eat. Soy and flaxseed are two foods with higher concentrations and high-quality phytoestrogens. Other common foods that contain phytoestrogens are apples, carrots, oats, plums, olives, potatoes, tea, coffee, and sunflower seeds.

Website design By BotEap.comHerbal remedies for hot flashes. Plant herbs also contain phytoestrogens that have been shown to help relieve menopausal discomforts such as hot flashes and sweats. Although many of these herbs have been used for some time, documentation of their benefits is not well established. Herbs such as dong quai (Angelica sinensis), Chasteberry (Vitex Agnus-castus) have been shown to relieve menopausal discomfort by up to 45%. Black cohosh is another herb that has been commonly used for menopausal discomfort. It is available in a product called Remifemin. Clinical studies of the benefits of black cohosh for menopausal symptoms have mixed results. Some studies document definite improvements, others seem not to. In a recent study, researchers postulated that the mechanism of black cohosh’s benefits for menopausal complaints is through its influence on opiate receptors in the brain. Clinical studies document the benefits of Siberian rhubarb root extract (ERr 731) for the relief of menopausal discomfort. An herb that is not well known in the United States, but has been used in Germany for hot flashes and sweats since 1993, is Siberian rhubarb root extract. Known as ERr 731 by researchers, it has been shown to reduce hot flashes and sweats by 72% in just 12 weeks.