Menopause, Nutrition and Herbs

by

JENNY McFEELY

Clinical Herbalist

Menopause has got to be one of the most talked about areas of health of our day. Twenty years ago when I was practicing in Wales, England the women there had very few problems through menopause. Today, almost every woman I see over 50 has had some kind of symptoms relating to changing hormones. Why now? Well there are a number of reasons including the increasing use of hormones in foods, a reduced quality in foods and diet generally, increasing drug use (medicinal!), reduced adrenal function through stress and probably the use of contraceptive pills which have artificially manipulated the hormone cycle. One other factor is that women are demanding more now than they ever used to. We no longer wish to become frumpy, dried up old maids at 50 or 60 but rather retain our aliveness, health and skin tone. The Japanese women are able to do this so why not here in the west. A fair request, but it means taking just a little more care of ourselves throughout our menstruating lives as well as through ‘the change’.

Soy products have been cited as being one of the reasons that Japanese women have fewer problems with menopause and a lower rate of breast cancer than here in the west. Soya beans contain high levels of phyto-estrogens which naturally help to protect us from breast cancer as well as lowering cholesterol. Incidentally, soy can also help to prevent prostate cancer in men. Brown rice contains gamma oryzanol - a good preventative of osteoporosis and since bone density tends to start dropping at around 35 years a regular diet of brown rice throughout life will go a long way to protecting us from osteoporosis 30 or more years later. One other factor affecting bone density which we in the west pay little attention to is the consumption of both coffee and sodas - both of which tend to leech minerals out of the bones so leaving them weak and at risk. Coffee, and high levels of protein both increase the excretion of calcium out through the urine and the consumption of both has gone up significantly in the last few decades.

Flax seeds are high in the phyto-estrogens as well as aiding in immunity and being helpful in the prevention and treatment of arthritis and heart disease. Flax oil is now a regular component of my diet either added to vegetables or used as a salad dressing. Some other Herbs high in phyto-estrogens include Fennel, Licorice (care if there is a history of high blood pressure), Red clover, Dong quai, Angelica and Black Cohosh. I should point out that the phyto-estrogens do not work in the same way as estrogen medication. Medications have shown signs of increasing the risk of estrogen related breast cancers. The plant estrogens however actually do the opposite site they weakly bind with estrogen sites in breast tissue so competing with either drug estrogens or natural estrogens produced by the ovaries. Just as there is good cholesterol (HDL) and bad cholesterol (LDL), so too is there good and bad estrogens - ones that support health and others which do not.

A general formula for menopause which was given to me by Dr. Tori Hudson a Naturopathic doctor specializing in gynecology is as follows. 2 parts each of Licorice (unless there is high blood pressure), Burdock and Dong quai, 1 part each of Wild yam and Motherwort. Since I never use formulas I have incorporated this in with other Herbs which address the specific needs of that person at the time and I have found that quite successful. For example Kava kava can be used for anxiety, Valerian for insomnia, St. John’s wort for menopausal depression and so on.

One other misconception is that Wild yam (Dioscorea villosa) is a natural source of progesterone - or for that matter, estrogen. It can be manipulated under laboratory conditions to produce a molecule of progesterone which does have the same shape as naturally produced progesterone but human beings are unable to convert Wild yam in the body to this molecule. In other words, taking Wild yam as a supplement is going to have a different effect from using the laboratory manipulated creams which are used externally and absorbed straight into the blood stream. These creams are much closer to ‘drugs’ although they are providing the natural form of progesterone unlike the synthetic orally administered medications. They should be used with care and preferably under supervision.