Women decide to take natural approaches to hormone replacement for many reasons. Some believe this is safer than prescription drugs, while others feel as though it is more affordable. Some women like to use a more integrative approach and choose natural alternatives to complement their prescribed hormone therapy. Whatever the reason, women can pick from a variety of natural hormone replacement therapies. Many of these are safe and effective in helping women deal with the symptoms that pre-menopause and menopause can cause.
Dong Quai
Dong quai contains an assortment of nutrients, including copper, manganese and plant sterols. These sterols seem to display the same chemical configuration as the hormone estrogen, which appears to help alleviate menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes. Author of "The Wisdom of Menopause," Dr Christiane Northrup suggests that dong quai works on hot flashes by stabilizing blood vessels, which in turn can reduce the occurrence of hot flashes. For some women, dong quai also helps with mental and emotional upset.
Soy
Phytoestrogens are found in soy, which has estrogen-like propertiesl. These soy isoflavones can assist in reducing night sweats and hot flashes in some women. Soy also can help with weight gain that can accompany menopause. Soy isoflavones work by binding to estrogen receptors and reducing the effects of excess estrogen when the levels begin to get high. There are a variety of ways to get soy into your body, including supplements, soy shakes and foods that contain soy-based products.
Natural Progesterone Cream
As a woman enters menopause, there is a decline in hormone production that creates an estrogen dominance. As a result, women start experiencing symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats and, of course, irregular menstrual cycles. A study done by Obstetrics and Gynecology suggests that natural progesterone creams can help ease some of these symptoms. The creams are derived from the Mexican wild yam, which has a similar molecular structure to the progesterone hormone that woman produce in their bodies.
Herbal Cocktails
Some women may find relief with what is known as an herbal cocktail, a combination of useful herbs normally found in capsule, tablet or tincture form. Often these herbal cocktails offer a variety of useful ingredients that aid in treating symptoms in menopausal women, such as depression and mood disruptions, night sweats, hot flashes and poor libido, according to Leanna Standish and Tori Hudson, naturopathic physicians who studied herbal cocktails. These cocktails include a combination of a variety of herbs, such as ginseng, fenugreek, licorice, don quai, black cohosh, sarsaparilla, St John's wort, flaxseed, red clover and chaste-tree berry.
References
- Natural Choices for Menopause: Safe, Effective Alternatives to Hormone Replacement Therapy; Marilyn Glenville, Ph.D.; 1999
- The Wisdom of Menopause: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing During the Change, 2nd Edition by Christiane Northrup 2006
- Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing; Christiane Northrupt; 2006
