Menopause or ‘change of life’ is medically the permanent end of a woman’s menstruation and fertility. While it may be a completely natural biological process it is far from being an easy journey for most women.
The symptoms of menopause range from night sweats and hot flashes to extreme mood swings and insomnia. Instead of suffering through the process for an unknown amount of time, take active steps to manage the symptoms and the process of menopause.
Here are 7 home remedies for helping you to cope with menopause and its not-so-pleasant symptoms:
1) Stopping Smoking
Unfortunately, women who are smokers are more likely to experience menopause earlier than non-smokers. However, it is never too late to stop smoking as smokers are more likely to have more severe menopausal symptoms than their non-smoking counterparts.
2) Cutting back on Caffeine
Many women report disrupted sleep as well as periods of insomnia when menopause starts. The daily exhaustion can easily cause you to reach for those extra cups of coffee to help you through the day.
This can easily become a vicious cycle as the extra caffeine in the coffee can worsen your sleep problems as well as aggravating those hot flashes.
Keep your coffee intake to 1-2 cups per day to help prevent these side effects.
3) Move more, Exercise
Exercise at any age is a great idea. During menopause, however, exercise can be even more important as it will help to manage many of the symptoms of menopause.
Exercise has many benefits:
- Helping to keep unnecessary pounds off
- Improving quality of sleep
- Increasing happy hormones
- Reversing bone density loss
While exercise is not a magic cure-all for menopause, this 2014 study showed just how effective a 12-week exercise routine can be over the long term.
4) Purchase a Fan
This is a no brainer. While the rest of your household may be sleeping soundly night sweats and hot flashes could be interfering with your sleep as well as the day-to-day quality of life.
Invest in a good fan to help you through the worst of the symptoms.
5) Focus on Diet
Aside from the fact that following a healthy diet is of benefit to all of us, specific foods can be increased or cut out to help manage menopausal symptoms.
Foods that can help to manage the symptoms of menopause:
- Cruciferous vegetables: Broccoli, cauliflower, kale and cabbage are all part of the cruciferous family of vegetables. Studies show that these vegetables contain a substance called indole-3-carbinol, which naturally help the body to lower estrogen levels.
- Ground flaxseeds: adding ground flaxseeds to your morning smoothie will help also help to balance your female hormones.
- Fruits and vegetables: naturally high in all the good stuff like fiber, phytosterols, and antioxidants. Increasing your intake of fresh produce will help with slowing the aging process and keeping you regular
6) Go Natural
Many women are nervous to try hormone replacement therapy. The good news is that there are many natural options to investigate. Consider speaking to your doctor about trying any one of the following natural menopause remedies:
- Black Cohosh: A herbal remedy made from the roots of a plant from the buttercup family. Black Cohosh has been used in Germany as a herbal remedy since the 1940’s. Various studies have shown that it may help to relieve the symptoms of menopause, especially effective in reducing hot flashes.
- Sage Tea: Other than being a delicious herb, sage may be effective in helping to reduce sweating and hot flashes. Use 1 teaspoon of fresh or dried sage in 1 cup of boiling water to make sage tea. Steep the sage leaves in the hot water for 5 minutes, strain and drink.
- Chasteberry or Vitex : Chasteberry shares the same hormone balancing properties as Black Cohosh. The end result being improved sleep, hot flashes as well as reduced menopausal symptoms
- Red Clover: Another herbal remedy known to be effective in reducing hot flashes associated with menopause.
7) Cut down on Alcohol
While it may seem that the answer to those hot flashes is a glass of ice-cold wine the side effects are unfortunately detrimental. Alcohol actually increases our body heat. Our brains sense the increase in temperature and prompt our skin’s blood vessels to dilate, essentially causing a hot flash.
The other undesirable long-term side effect may be weight gain as alcohol ends up giving us unnecessary empty calories.
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