General advice on disease prevention and a healthy lifestyle can be found in the library article "General Advice - for healthy as well as for ill ones" in the VitaHealth section under Focus Articles. You can also test your health by taking our "Health Check".
Green food can increase your body’s oestrogen level and thereby relieve the menopausal problems since many plants contain vegetable oestrogens (phyto-oestrogens).
Women who eat a vegetarian diet do not have the same problems to the same degree as women who eat animal proteins. Studies show that women who eat many soybeans have less hot flushes and a thicker cellular layer in the vaginal mucosa. Research also indicates that soybeans may also counteract breast cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Protein-rich soya products like soybeans, soya flour, soya milk, tempeh, and tofu, plus fennel, flaxseed, parsley, red clover sprouts, sage, and celery have shown to increase the oestrogen level in women who have passed childbearing age.
Research also indicates that the amount of active oestradiol 17B can be doubled in women who eat food containing large amounts of boron. Boron-rich foods are: Apples, apricots, asparagus, beetroots, blackcurrants, broccoli, cabbage, cherry, cumin, dandelion, dates, dill, figs, honey, peaches, legumes, parsley, pears, raisins, soybeans, strawberry, and many nuts.
It can be recommended to take care of your body and mind by:
- Eating healthily, nutritious, and oestrogen-rich foods: vegetables, fish, fruits, seeds, fibres, and vegetable oils – preferably of organic quality.
- Drinking plenty of pure water; 1½ - 2 litres a day.
- Reducing your stress level – make sure that there is time for resting, relaxation, joys, meditation, and self-pampering.
- Making sure to get regular, moderate exercise such as walking, biking, swimming, dancing, stretching, yoga, or a light workout 3 times a week – you can also arrange an exercise plan together with an expert.
- Strengthening the muscles around your urethra, vagina, and anus by doing pelvic floor exercises.
- Making sure to get antioxidants – i.e. vitamins, minerals and other things that can detoxify and strengthen your body.
- Taking a dietary supplement which will provide your body with nutritious substances in the amounts it needs.
- Removing old mental patterns blocking joy, self-respect, and quality of life.
- Making sure to have a good body consciousness and contact with your inner voice/intuition.
- Taking care of your body and making sure to get rest and time to yourself.
- Doing breathing exercises; consciously taking deep breaths.
- Taking hip baths, e.g. with a decoction of horsetail, Equisetum arvense.
Avoid:
- Consuming sugar, white bread, coffee, black tea, and alcohol which affects the mineral balance and the intestinal-, immune-, and nervous systems in a negative way. You can drink grain coffee and green tea instead.
- Eating animal fat, fried food, and fast food which can cause obesity as well as digestive- and cholesterol problems.
- Large work loads, bodily exhaustion, and stress.
- Exaggerated exercise and workout. If you suffer from osteoporosis, you should plan your exercise/workout with an instructor. Be careful with your knees, back, and joints in general!
- Being exposed to tobacco smoke because the harmful chemical substances result in poor digestion and a bad circulation.
In case of hot flushes, it can be recommended to:
- Find out what was the trigger in order to be able to prevent it the next time.
- Have a positive outlook on life and an easy-going attitude which can alleviate the malaise.
- Avoid hot drinks and alcohol which can trigger the hot flushes.
- Make sure to exercise moderately; this can relieve both the hot flushes and sweats plus stress and depression.
- Eat smaller meals which can contribute to regulating the body temperature.
- Wear cotton, silk, and thin wool – synthtetic fabrics will just keep you warm.
- Wear multi-layered clothing.
- Wear night clothes made from cotton which can absorb the sweat.
- Sleep under a light duvet made from cotton and wool.
- Turn down the heat in the rooms where you are.
- Use a fan when you feel warm.
In case of vaginal irritation or dryness, you should avoid all substances which can have a desiccating effect on the mucous membranes, such as alcohol, coffee, black tea, tampons, antihistamines, and diuretics. You can also apply pure vegetable oil, a cream containing vitamin E or some other unscented cream to your vagina before having intercourse. Having intercourse regularly can be recommended because it increases the blood supply to the vagina, lubricates it, and indirectly stimulates the ovaries and thereby prevents extreme fluctuations in the oestrogen level. It might be a good idea to experiment with new intercourse positions in order to find some which are more pleasant.
In order to prevent problems of the urinary system, you can practice stopping the urine flow when urinating by squeezing your pelvic floor muscles tight and keeping them like that while counting to three and then relaxing. The exercise can with benefit be repeated on a regular basis by alternately tighten and relaxing the pelvic floor muscles.
It can be a good idea to strengthen your nervous system with bracing herbs or homeopathic remedies and to strengthen your intestinal flora with lactic acid bacteria from lacto-fermented vegetables or through dietary supplements.
Experience shows that supplements of the amino acid lysine as part of a broad-spectrum treatment program combined with a lifestyle change provide positive results in case of osteoporosis. Since lead can be a contributory cause in osteoporosis, lysine supplements are beneficial because the amino acid helps to remove lead from the body. Lysine also promotes the production of hormones, antibodies, and enzymes, it is important to the immune defence, and counteracts infections.
The amino acid Methionine promotes memory and hair growth, it detoxifies the liver, counteracts tiredness and exhaustion, and strengthens the immune defence. The amino acid Glutathione (GSH) is a detoxifying antioxidant with great importance to the immune system.
Useful herbs:
- Green Tea (Camellia sinensis): Antioxidants in green tea counteract the ageing process, food poisoning, caries, plaque, and viral attacks; it normalizes the blood pressure, has a lowering effect on your appetite, reduces the level of LDL cholesterol, and stabilizes the blood sugar level. Drink it instead of coffee.
- Canadian bloodroot (Sanguinaria)
- Chaste berry (Vitex agnus castus): Regulates hormones and can contribute to balancing the ovaries' production of progesterone and oestrogen by increasing the progesterone activity.
- Dong quai (Angelica sinensis): Has oestrogen-like effects and can counteract hot flushes and menstrual- and urinary problems.
- Garlic (Allium sativum): Strengthens immunity and reduces the size of fat depots.
- Ginkgo biloba: Strengthens the circulation and counteracts forgetfulness and lack of concentration. Should be taken for at least 3 months in order to have any effect.
- Liquorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra): Has oestrogen-like effects and also increases the level of progesterone which is beneficial in relation to menopausal problems.
- Oats (Avena sativa): Has a mild antidepressant effect, and supports the nervous system in case of depression and lack of vitality.
- Lady's mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris)
- Lucerne (-sprouts) (Medicago sativa): Can be used as an ingredient in salad, for example.
- Panax ginseng: 100 mg. of extract 3 times a day for 2 – 3 months can in many cases relieve vaginal dryness, pains, and small vaginal bleedings.
- St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum): Has anti-depressant effects, relieves the many symptoms of an altered hormonal balance, and increases your vitality. Works well with Black Snakeroot and Helonias.
- Black snakeroot (Cimicifuga racemosa): can relieve menstrual problems and cramps, hot flushes, dry mucous membranes, mood swings, and depression. It is a good alternative to hormonal treatment for people who are at risk of developing cancer - it is often used together with Helonias.
- Helonias: Has a good effect on climacterial troubles - can with benefit be taken together with Black snakeroot, Cimicifuga racemosa.
- Hops (Humulus lupulus): Has a calming, strengthening, smasmolytic, and soporific effect. It is beneficial in case of tensions, tension headache, and stress. It is believed to have oestrogen-like effects.
- Sage (Salvia officinalis): Which contains natural oestrogen reduces hot flushes and nigth sweats and also can relieve the symptoms of hormonal changes.
- Willow (Salix alba): Has analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antisudorific effects and counteracts hot flushes and night sweats.
- Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
- Strawberry (Fragaria)
- White peony (Paeonia lactiflora): Has spasmolytic effects, is beneficial in case of hot flushes and night sweats, and can relieve abdominal pains. A decoction made from 20 g. of plant to 750 ml. of water. To be drunk in small sips during the day.
- Willow (Salix alba): 1 tsp. of tincture every evening.
Other relevant health products:
- Vitamin E (Natural) from wheat germ can counteract hot flushes and vaginal dryness.
- Hesperidin (bioflavonoid) taken together with vitamin C has a beneficial effect on hot flushes and cramps - especially in the legs. Large doses of Hesperidin, however, can result in increased body odour and perspiration on the clothes.
- Gamma oryzanol (ferulic acid): 100 - 300 mg. a day.
- Royal jelly (Gelée Royale), strongly strengthens immunity when the cause is hormonal weakness; it normalizes the hormonal balance and is beneficial in case of reduced sex drive and hot flushes. Take 1 capsule at breakfast.
Regarding essential fatty acids (EFA):
Omega 3 fatty acids can be found in flaxseed, cod-liver oil, fatty fish, walnuts, rape, purslane, pumpkin seeds, greens, and wheat germ. 1 tbsp. of cod-liver oil a day or 1 tsp. of ground flaxseed or walnut oil every morning is cheaper than fish oil capsules. If you want, you can add a couple of vitamin E capsules to the flaxseed oil to avoid rancidity.
Omega 6 fatty acids (GLA) can be found in blackcurrant, borage, cold-pressed maize-, rape-, sesame-, sunflower-, thistle-, and evening primrose oil plus seeds.
