1. KNOW YOUR HORMONE LEVELS!
If you're like most women experiencing Peri-Menopause, Menopause and/or Post-Menopause in our society, you probably don't know where to turn for help. With all the potential health risks associated with Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) and the controversy surrounding BioIdentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) it's no wonder we're at a loss and suffering needlessly. I understand first-hand the challenges faced by women entering peri-menopause all the way to post-menopause. I know the frustrations of watching your body change right before your very eyes. Gaining weight while still exercising and dieting, experiencing unrelenting hot flashes, anxiety, insomnia, & apathy are just a few of the symptoms that can be experienced at this time of life.
After searching for answers for myself, I, like many, have discovered that you can stop and reverse the degenerative changes that most women think are natural or normal as we grow older.
Hormones are extremely powerful substances in very tiny amounts and because of this they are precisely and carefully monitored and controlled in your body. They are chemical messengers that are regulated by your nervous system and your nervous system is working overtime to assure that everything is going as planned to keep you at your optimal health. Hormones are so tiny they are measured in nano and pico-grams. If you are constantly stressing your body and nervous system by poor diet, unhealthy lifestyle and modern-day stressors your hormones are going to react. That reaction will be an imbalance in the steroid hormone family tree and play havoc on your body. The most important thing for you to realize is that symptoms are your body's way of telling you that something is wrong. Take heed! If you ignore these symptoms and put a band-aid on them (medication) you will temporarily feel better but you will pay the consequences with poor health including, but not limited to, weight gain, menopausal depression, anxiety, hot flashes, insomnia, loss of sex drive, decreased energy, increased pain. I am listing only symptoms here, remember, symptoms are your body's way of communicating a larger problem. The more devastating effects are; high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, uterine and breast cancer, accelerated aging, auto-immune disease, and more.
Your hormone levels can be determined from a simple saliva test with a reputable laboratory. Once you know your levels you can begin to make the appropriate changes with whole food supplementation, stress reduction, dietary and lifestyle changes.
To clear up a bit of confusion about blood and saliva testing I will briefly explain the differences. For a more thorough explanation visit Diagnostechs website (see below). When hormones are tested in the blood they are testing the inactive form of the hormone, although good information it does not tell you what hormones are active and functioning in your body. These hormones are attached to proteins and not active until they are called upon. Testing the free hormones in the blood is a better alternative but very costly and most insurance companies will not pay for them. Saliva Testing will give you the free and active form of the hormones, telling you what is and isn't happening in your body and giving you a roadmap to what needs to be done to rebalance your hormone family, and you don't have to go to a lab.
The next 2 most important steps that you can take right now is to acknowledge and address the stressors in your life and diet. Both will put undue stress on your adrenal glands and over time change the function and balance of your hormones causing you to experience the dreaded symptoms of menopause and ultimately your declining health.
2. BE CONSCIOUS OF WHAT YOU PUT IN YOUR MOUTH!
What does your diet consist of? What's for breakfast? Bagels, toast, donuts, pastry, egg McMuffin, OMG pop-ups, cereal, processed bread, non-organic eggs, coffee, tea? We are constantly being assaulted with this garbage in the grocery stores, commercials and fast food restaurants. They are fast, easy, taste good and relatively cheap, but at what expense? Do you even eat breakfast at all? What gets you through the day? What's for lunch, dinner, night-time snack? Do you drink soda, alcohol, fruit juices, eat sugars, sweets?
Why is it we are able to eat this way all of our lives until one day you just don't feel good anymore? Are young bodies better able to digest? Are they immune to these poisons? Is it just because you're getting older? The truth is the human body is not designed to ingest processed, non-nutrient food products. The body will rid itself of these toxins for as long as it can but there will come a time when it will fatigue and can no longer handle the stress and much of the time it is when our body building steroid hormones are on the decline. These anti-nutrient, so-called foods will repeatedly tax all the body's organs and systems, including the endocrine system throwing off the hormonal regulation needed for overall health and vitality, creating disease and ultimately, burn out.
So what's the answer? What are you going to eat? The answer is, keep it simple; whole foods, organic fruits and vegetables, whole grains (if you are not gluten sensitive), organic eggs, organic free range poultry, grass-fed beef, wild salmon and more. You can be very creative and there are many cookbooks for healthy living that are available to us today. Be careful, stay away from fad diets and stick to the basics. A good plan to follow is the Lower Carb Mediterranean Diet consisting mainly of protein and fat, with a small amount of complex carbohydrates.
LOWER CARB MEDITERRANEAN DIET
- Eat every 2 to 3 hours to maintain blood sugar levels
- Do not eat carbohydrates alone, always add protein and healthy fat to your meals and snacks
- Avoid stimulants - caffeine, sugar, alcohol etc.
- Avoid dead, de-vitalized and junk foods
- Avoid trans-fats and rancid fats
- Eat real, whole, fresh fruits (organic is best)
- Salt your food liberally with Celtic Sea Salt
- Drink plenty of water, half of your body weight in fluid ounces is recommended
- Eat foods rich in Omega 3 Fatty Acids such as cold water (not farm-raised) fish, including salmon, tuna (not recommended due to its high level of mercury), trout, herring and mackerel. Eat walnuts, flaxseeds and green leafy vegetables. If you prefer, take an Omega 3 supplement such as Tuna Omega-3 Oil from Standard Process.
- Use monounsaturated oils, especially extra virgin olive oil as your primary oil or fat source. Do not use canola oil (rapeseed oil) as it is highly processed to take away the offensive taste and smell. Other oils that are good for you, contrary to popular belief, are saturated fats such as coconut oil, lard and butter.
- Eat seven or more servings of vegetables and fruits every day (fresh, frozen, not canned). More vegetables to fruit if you are trying to lose weight.
- Eat natural sources of protein, (not man-made deli meats), and preferably organic meats (grass-fed, no hormones or antibiotics).
- Eat only organic whole grains (noncommercial). No refined carbohydrates (white flour, white pasta, white rice, white sugar).
- The best breads are found in the frozen section of the health food store. Look for organic sprouted grain breads.
- Minimize oils that are high in Omega 6 fatty acids, including corn, safflower, sunflower, soybean, and cottonseed oils.
- Reduce or eliminate your intake of trans-fatty acids (all hydrogenated oils), which are prevalent in margarine, vegetable shortening, and almost all commercially prepared packaged foods.
- Make complex carbohydrates, such as breads, pasta, and grains, your smallest food group.
The Mediterranean-Type Diet, also known as the Crete Diet and Omega Diet, was compared to the Standard American Heart Association Diet in the Lyon Diet Heart Study in 1994. "Compared to those on the AHA diet, patients on the Mediterranean Type Diet had an unprecedented 76% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease or suffering heart failure, heart attack, or stroke! Remarkably, the new diet had proven more effective at saving lives than any other heart diet, drugs, lifestyle, program, or any combination of these elements." (see The Omega Diet: The Lifesaving Nutritional Program Bases on the Diet of the Island of Crete, by Simopoulos, Artemis, P., M.D., and Jo Robinson, Harper Collins Publishers, Inc., 199. p9)
3. DECREASE YOUR STRESS!
Are you allowing the stressors of everyday life to ruin yours? Limit the stress in your life. Living in today's society brings many stressors into our daily lives. Add on an unexpected loss or trauma and our bodies must and will react. We are brilliantly designed to handle short-term stress then return to a state of ease. Prolonged and unrelenting stress, real or imagined, will create chaos within. Hormonal imbalance, blood sugar dysfunction, adrenal fatigue, anxiety, diseases, depression all can be created from a prolonged stress response. Identify your stressors! What does stress mean to you and why? Ask yourself if you believe you have any control over it and if you do, what can be done to eliminate or reduce it? For the stressors that you have no control over ask yourself; what is the worst case scenario? Can you change the way you perceive this event or situation?
There are a multitude of stress reducing techniques that you have available to help you better understand and deal with stressful situations including and not limited to; yoga, tai chi, meditation, walking, exercise, gardening and square breathing, MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/stress/index.aspx. Decide which works best for you and incorporate this into your daily routine. Surround yourself with positive, happy people. Remember, we may not be able to control the stress in our lives but we can control how we perceive it.
Don't let circumstances run your life or your health - You are the boss - Take control of you!
No matter how long you have been suffering with poor health, low energy and/or other symptoms of peri-menopause and menopause, it's not too late to restore your body's natural balance. The good news is: You can begin to incorporate the 3 Simple Steps to Optimal Health and avoid the devastating effects of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).
Visit http://www.diagnostechs.com for more information about saliva testing.
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