Natural Relief for Hot Flashes
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Natural relief for hot flashes can be pretty straight
forward. You need to ask yourself a couple of key questions:
1. Is your lifestyle supporting a smooth menopausal transition?
2. Are you using Nature's Back Up system for estrogen replacement?
The first question
Bodywork
In rural India most women experience menopause as a smooth transition into the
wise woman years. They rarely experience hot flashes and simply move from having
a period to not having a period easily and painlessly. Their diet is the key.
They consume spices and foods rich in phytoestrogenic compounds, spend time in
quiet meditation, live a simple, slower life and are part of a supportive
community and family. Shall we all move to India? No. But we can learn from
their wisdom and the science of natural medicine.
Here are some simple suggestions for naturally dealing with hot flashes:
- Increase your consumption of soy as it has been found to help with hot
flashes. To find out more about the right soy for you, click here.
- Add the spices cumin, coriander, tumeric, and fennel to your foods. They
aren't overly spicey and add a lovely exotic flare to your cooking.
- Consume sprouted red clover and garbanzo beans. These are high in
phytoestrogens.
- High quality herbs like chasteberry, black cohosh, dong quai, burdock,
licorice, and motherwort can be helpful. As well as Chinese herbal combinations
or AyurVedic herbs like sarsaparilla, ashwaganda, and asteofida.
- Consuming a diet lower in animal products can also help. As we age our
protein needs change and a more vegetarian diet will provide more than enough
protein and a wealth of health benefits.
Avoid
- Stimulating drinks like coffee and alcohol.
- Hot spicy foods if you are one of the women who are affected by these
kinds of foods. It is interesting to note that women who consume high
quantities of hot peppers rarely experience hot flashes. Listen to your body!
- White sugar. Our bodies are more sensitive now to poor dietary choices and
sugar can cause a myriad of negative events from heart palpitations to
diabetes.
- Stress can cause your hormones to do all sorts of weird and wonderful
things. Practice stress reduction techniques as much as possible and avoid
stressful situations.
Mindwork
Blocked energy, repressed emotions, and unexpressed anger can all have a
negative effect on how your menopausal transition is manifested. As we enter
these years our emotions seem to rise close to the surface. It's like all the
years we spend focusing on reproducing, nurturing, building a career and tending
relationships keeps a blanket over many of our strong emotions. As we hit the
menopausal years that blanket is lifted. Repressed memories or past hurts
suddenly start coming to the surface demanding attention. Unfortunately, in our
Western culture we are told that the mood swings and excessive emotions are
caused by fluctuating hormones rather than valid reactions to real challenges
and the minds desire to clear up past issues.
Final Word
You need to listen to what your body is telling you and you need to tend to
those emotions, memories, and
blocked energy channels. Both Ayur Vedic and Chinese medicine encourage
meditation and energy work that stimulates the free flow of energy throughout
your emotional centers and chakras. This can help still the mind, calm the
hormones, and modify the hot flashes.
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