by Thomas Mayne

Created on: August 17, 2009

Night sweats, tiredness, irritability, hot flushes and heavy irregular periods. The symptoms of menopause can be greatly inconveniencing for a lot of women. Fortunately research suggest that most women say they look and feel better than ever after going through the menopause, however what can be done in the meantime to combat these symptoms? The answer used to by HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) but many women have abandoned this treatment in the face of research suggesting links to cancer and strokes. On the other hand however experts insist that HRT is safe for the majority of women however the damage is still done and confidence has been lost. Are there therefore natural alternative treatments which are both effective and cost efficient? With the three step guide to diet, exercise, and alternative treatment you too will be able to mitigate the effects of the menopause.

Step one, changing your diet:

Before you even consider popping some supplement pills or the dodgy herb from the body shop the most important thing you should consider is improving your diet. Research suggests that for most women the key to beating menopausal discomfort lies in simply increasing their intake of the right sort of foods and cutting out the less helpful. Key advice is to increase your intake of fresh fruit, vegetables and essential fats from oily fish. Fibre will help to balance your hormones so eat plenty of wholegrains, oats and beans. Multi-vitamins however could be of use if your diet is deficient, especially if they have been specifically designed for menopausal women.

Foods rich in phyto-oestrogens (Pos) are a must! The menopause occurs because as a woman ages their natural levels of oestrogen drop, which causes a hormonal imbalance and the discomforting symptoms previously mentioned. HRT works by simply replacing the oestrogen, but what many people don't know is that you can actually naturally effect the same process through the food you eat by eating foods containing POs! These occur in foods such as tofu, soya milk, chickpeas, kidney beans, linseeds and other lentils. Research suggests that you can reduce hot flushes by up to 50% through drinking two glasses of soya milk a day. It is recommended to eat at least on PO rich food a day.

Finally you should cut spicy foods and caffeine rich products. Alcohol as well is shown to exacerbate the symptoms of the menopause. Smoking (on top of causing cancer) will compound your menopausal woes.


Step two, increasing your activity levels:

Keeping fit is crucial to help you cope with your body's changes. Walking, running and dancing are great ideas to combat the dangers of osteoporosis. Exercise can also modulate a person's mood swings and aches and pains. Research suggests that exercise can even reduce hot flushes. Studies show that large proportions of women who follow a resistance training plan for 8 weeks were less stressed, had few hot flushes and headaches and had a higher sex drive. Find some form of exercise you enjoy and fit it into your weekly routine!

Step three, Alternative remedies:

Herbal supplements are categorised as food supplements rather than drugs and thus are subjected to the stringent research and testing of most drugs. This can make the claims on the box less than accurate, however there is a lot of anecdotal evidence backing up some of the claims of remedy producers, so you should experiment with different herbs to see what works for you. All experts urge that you consult a strained nutritional expert of your GP first and that you only take them for shorter periods of time (less than a year) because as yet the long term effects of many of these herbs is unknown.

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