Natural Menopause
Signs of Menopause – Can Herbs Help?
Herbs for menopause – vitex agnus castus, motherwort, red sage, dong quai, and others – are used by many women who believe that these are valuable. Herbs may well be helpful; however, it is wise to act before the menopause starts to help keep your hormones in balance. In this way, the passage through menopause is, hopefully, balanced.
The key to this approach is to moderate lifestyle; accentuate what can help, and minimise what might harm.
Lifestyle Changes
In accentuating the positive in your lifestyle, the following will help:
- Avoid stress – beware of the signs
- Adopt a great ‘menopause diet’
- Exercise regularly
In addition, natural remedies can be used for menopause including menopause herbs, homoeopathic remedies and aromatherapy oils.
First, though, let’s look at herbs often used by women at the time of the menopause.
Herbs Used By Women In Menopause
Our top recommendation is our Menopause Programme. This consists of three products, two to help the hormone stay balanced and one for the liver – it is essential to keep the liver working well at menopause time.
The Menopause Programme with Capsules
This consists of:
- 200 Femarone 40+ Capsules. Our unique combination of 13 herbs for use at menopause time.
- 100 Liv Capsules – our special formula to help the liver to keep working well, and
- A tub of Fem Rep Tea, a herbal tea to further help the hormone stay balanced.
- A comprehensive pamphlet, explaining the different products as well as giving dietary and exercise advice to help you get the most out of these products at the time of the menopause.
The Menopause Programme with Drops
Some people prefer herbs in drops rather than capsules where possible. The Menopause Programme with Drops substitutes Femarone 40+ Drops and Liv Drops for Femarone 40+ and Liv Capsules. Apart from this the programme is the same.
We suggest the programme is used for 3-6 months. Afterwards, some women like to continue with it at a lower level for up to a year or even more; others find they can just stop it and feel fine.
Sometimes individual herbs are useful either as a supplement to Menopause Programme above or used instead of the programme. Some of these are listed below: author Leslie Kenton discussed these and other herbs in her menopause book (in which she recommends Specialist Herbal Supplies), Passage To Power.
- Agnus Castus – best selling herb used by menstruating women, and those in the menopause
- Dong Quai – another best selling herb used by both groups of women – has a centuries old reputation in the Far East
- Ginkgo biloba – may help to keep the brain sharp and the memory good and keep the hands and feet warm
- St John’s Wort – a very popular herb and often useful for women at this time
- Red sage – recommended by many for ‘keeping cool’ during menopause
- Motherwort – a ‘forgotten’ herb, strongly recommended by old herbalists for women – especially at menopause time and to help keep you energetic.
- Cayenne Capsules – which, surprisingly, can be used to help keep you cool. For this purpose it is usually used in capsule form, so that sufficient can be taken to help.
- Red Clover – popular with some menopausal women. Red clover contains certain phytoeostrogens which are thought to help maintain hormone balance.
Other Measures To Help Keep The Hormones Balanced
Avoiding Stress
It is important for the hormone system to avoid stress as much as possible. Signs of this are important to watch for.
One sign can be spending too long thinking of others. It is good to think of others – but not to the exclusion of yourself. This is not a healthy sign. You might need to give yourself a regular break, and do more of what YOU want.
Yoga is a great approach for helping signs of menopause as well as being a great anti-stress measure.
If your nerves need nourishment, there are nerve herbs which can help tremendously. A Nerve Programme can be extremely helpful.
Diet – Change It For Menopause
Nutrition – a top approach for menopause. Upgrade nutrition at middle age to help your body to produce adequate hormones to ease your way through menopause.
As a general guide, eat lots and lots of vegetables and fruit, as much raw a possible, to get the maximum nutrients into your body. Aim not for 5 a day – but for 10 a day to maximise nutrition.
For a full assessment of your nutritional needs, see a qualified nutritional therapist to get properly assessed for a 6 month or longer programme of nutritional therapy.
One natural food which many women include in the diet is soya. Tofu, which is produced by fermenting soya beans has little taste itself so can be incorporated into your any diet. For example, it can be liquidized into soups or sauces as well as being cooked and served as a food in its own right. Or it can be fried in bite-sized portions and then included with salads. Flavour spices, onions, garlic.
Exercise – Natural Help During Menopause
Exercise is a great help for health in general, and for menopause in particular. As well as helping to keep hormones balanced, it helps keep weight under control and helps keep the bones strong.
It is important to have thorough, regular exercise and that it is vigorous. Again, seek advice from a qualified health advisor at a gym, for example, to establish a holistic programme.
Natural Measures Can Help At Menopause
Yes, herbs and other natural remedies for menopause can be helpful if used as an overall programme of healthcare at this time. Herbal supplements for menopause can be particularly valuable, if used as part of a holistic programme for health.
Use the help of therapists if you can; or if this is not convenient or is too expensive use the above information, read widely on the subject, research on the Internet and develop your own programme. We are always pleased to help with advice and suggestions – don’t hesitate to ask.