Focus on the menopause

FOR some women, it comes and goes without a problem - for others it means months, or even years, of discomfort and misery. Every woman experiences the menopause, but if you’re one of the unlucky ones, you can dramatically ease symptoms with complementary therapies - and by making simple changes in diet and lifestyle. The following advice comes from WIS, the computerised information system available from local health food stores

LET’S get one thing straight right from the start: the menopause is not an illness, or a disease. It is a natural event and every woman will experience it.

Many women sail through the whole experience without any adverse symptoms - and research shows that those who regard it as an illness suffer most.

Technically, the term ‘menopause’ actually applies to the day that menstruation stops and is usually said to have occurred when a woman has had no menstrual bleeding for 12 consecutive months. In general use, though, it also embraces the time leading up to the permanent ending of monthly periods, and it’s during that time that some women experience ‘menopause symptoms’.

In a few women, menstruation stops suddenly, but most women’s periods become irregular as their ovaries gradually stop producing eggs and oestrogen, the hormone that maintains the female reproductive function.

It is the loss of oestrogen that creates symptoms such as hot flushes, sweating at night, lack of lubricating fluid in the vagina and a more frequent need to pass urine. About seven in 10 women suffer these effects in varying degrees.

HEALTHY EATING:

Eating the right foods, and taking supplements, can ease symptoms.

A good diet is essential for maintaining healthy hormone balance and is crucial during the menopause. For general hormone health and symptom relief, there’s growing evidence that regularly eating soya-based foods - such as soya beans, tofu, soya milk and yoghurt - offers effective protection against many of the unpleasant effects. In the Far East, where soya is a staple part of the diet, there’s no word for hot flushes, and osteoporosis (a gradual but progressive loss of bone mass and another menopausal symptom) is a rare condition.

Individual symptoms can be helped by other diet and lifechanges:

Hot flushes
Stress, being very thin, wearing tight-fitting clothes, and room temperature can all make things worse.

Vitamin E can dramatically ease the symptom, and the best sources are cold-pressed vegetable oils, especially wheatgerm, corn, safflower, sunflower and olive oil, almonds, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds and pine nuts. There are also modest amounts of vitamin E in wholemeal bread, dark green leafy vegetables and eggs. Make sure at least three of these are on your daily menu.

Depression
After hot flushes, this is the most common symptom. Calcium, magnesium and the amino acid tryptophan will all do you good. You can get them from dairy products, spinach, chickpeas, sesame seeds, soya beans, cashew nuts, almonds, wholemeal flour, brown rice, bananas, dried fruits and seafood.

The B vitamins too are vital, and you’ll find them in liver, oily fish, wholegrain cereals, eggs, spinach and yeast extracts. You must have at least two of these each day.
Exercise stimulates the production of adrenalin and endorphins, which make you feel a lot better, so try to make time for physical exertion every day, no matter how low you feel.

Weight gain
This is a common anxiety connected to the menopause, but the mood swings and food cravings which are so common can be avoided by taking the recommended supplements (see panel).
Living on junk food and taking the pills won’t work. Go for a diet that is roughly: one third good cereals and starches; one third fresh fruit vegetables and salad; 15 per cent meat, fish, eggs and poultry; 15 per cent dairy foods and three per cent the naughty-but-nice treats.
Avoid visible fats as much as you can, and make sure you get some exercise every day.

Headaches
These are often related to the hot flushes and to the stress and tension that arises at the time. Beetroot improves the oxygen-carrying ability of the blood, contains iron and is a good source of folic acid. Don’t forget the leaves and red stems - use both root and leaf, raw in salads, dressed with sunflower seed oil, lemon juice and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Skin problems
These are also caused by a drop in the oestrogen levels. Vitamins A and E will both help, so eat plenty of dark green and yellow vegetables and fruits. Apricots and pumpkins are good, and you should eat two avocados a week. A monthly facial scrub using a carton of live yoghurt mixed with a heaped teaspoon of coarse sea salt is an excellent gentle exfoliant to remove dead skin.

Sexual problems
The drop in oestrogen also affects the secretions of the vagina and the quality of the tissue in the sexual organs. An active, regular sex life will delay these changes considerably. Many women spend their later years alone because most survive their husbands, but it doesn’t matter whether the sexual stimulation is the result of intercourse or masturbation - it’s having orgasms that counts.

Vitamin A and E foods are vital, so make sure you have at least two servings daily from oily fish, liver, apricots, spinach, carrots or other green and yellow veg. Other useful foods are vegetable oils, nuts, seeds - especially flax seeds - eggs and wholegrain cereals.

Other useful advice
Don’t smoke. Good advice for everyone, of course, but it is particularly bad for osteoporosis and also worsens the hot flushes.

JUST SOME OF THE THERAPIES THAT CAN HELP

Herbal medicine
Regular drinks of camomile tea and lime blossom tea are general relaxants, and hot flushes can be relieved by taking liquid sarsaparilla, ginseng tea, life root or St John’s wort.

Other herbs that may help include black cohosh, dong quai, Koren ginseng, red clover, sage, liquorice, catuala (sexual problems), vervain, St John’s wort (depression) and wild yam.

Homeopathy
A therapist will tailor treatment to the woman’s type, circumstances and symptoms, but pulsatilla or sepia might be recommended to stabilise the menstrual cycle, and glonoine and llachesis are believed to be most useful for reducing severe hot flushes.

Aromatherapy
Fennel, geranium and rose oils can help, used in body lotions, or added to the bath.

Nutritional supplements
Studies have shown that correcting dietary deficiencies is key to hormonal balance. Taking a good hi-potency multinutrient formula daily is useful for reducing hot flushes, mood swings, headaches
and irritability.

Other supplements that help include evening primrose oil, magnesium, soya isoflavones, vitamins B6, C and E and zinc.


FINAL REMINDER
The Connect ‘Focus on...’ guides are a starting point:

• Consult therapists for expert treatment and advice.
  
  
• Visit your local health food shop for info and products.
  
  
• Always tell your GP if you plan to use complementary treatments.