How to have a Healthy Menopause Naturally

by Deanne Bromham

What is a healthy menopause?
Menopause is a natural part of life. The normal cessation of the menstrual cycle can and should be a smooth transition. Menopause is not a hormone deficiency disease or condition but the end of women’s reproductive years. It is the end of a chapter in her life that began at the start of menstruation as a teenage girl. A women’s menopausal experience is a mirror of her general health.

During the years leading up to menopause the cycle can become irregular with months between periods. If a woman over the age of 45 has not had a period for 12months she is said to be menopausal.
The average age of menopause is between 48 and 53 years of age and should last no longer than 5 years.

What goes wrong?
The two most common female hormones, oestrogen and progesterone play their own specific roles in the childbearing years. Much of the reason menopause becomes a wild storm is due to the over looked involvement of the adrenals hormone cortisole and the interaction with the female hormones. The adrenals are two small glands that work closely with oestrogen, progesterone as well as thyroid hormones. The adrenal glands secret high amounts of the hormone cortisole in response to stress. Supposedly this might happen now and again. However for many women ongoing high levels of stress through life’s demands, pregnancies, breast feeding, parenting and full time work on top of other of life’s stresses result in the adrenals working harder than it was designed to do. Most women who are experiencing menopause that leaves them feeling like a ship wreck have some degree of adrenal stress.
After menopause it is normal that our body no longer needs progesterone, as we no longer need to become pregnant so the body has designed it so that progesterone stops being produced but the important adrenals glands take over the role of sustaining some oestrogen contribution to the body that is needed for ongoing bone density support.

What are the Answers?
There is a need for a safe and effective way to manage menopausal symptoms whether they’re just unpleasant or terrible unbearable.

Menopause, Naturopathy and Herbal Medicine; a great combination
There are a large number of herbs that can be used to treat the different aspects of menopause depending on the individual women’s presentation.

A one on one naturopathic consultation offers the menopausal women an overall health assessment, resulting in a specific treatment plan including an individually made formula with each herb having being added to her formulation with a particular intent for her menopausal experience.

Of incredible value is the professional assessment of the women’s overall health, diet and lifestyle which are often unsuspecting weapons to her menopausal health, which leads to the priceless beneficial advice that she will be given to address the underlying causes which in combination with the herbal formula will achieve the best results in the relief of her symptoms.

A herbal formula will often contain herbs with constituents that relieve the awaiting vacant oestrogen receptor site, helping with many of the symptoms which are due to the withdrawal of oestrogen. This occurs without adding extra oestrogen to the body. Research shows that the use of such herbs don’t actually alter the amount of oestrogen or progesterone levels in the body, we actual want our oestrogen and progesterone levels to be as close to what they should be for that time in a women’s life. I never make a menopausal formula without adding the vital adrenal supporting herbs, as the adrenal start to function better there will be a naturally increase production of oestrogen from the adrenals now that they are able to perform their important role. From a professional holistic medicine view point it can prove to be extremely detrimental to have much higher hormone levels in the body at the time than what is normal. Other herbs used in menopause will have a rejuvenating affect on the reproductive and hormonal organs encouraging them to be in balance and function optimally; these are called female tonics and will improve fatigue, libido, and vitality. There are also certain herbs which are more specific for the peri-menopausal women as she may begin to experience the moodiness, erratic periods and worsened premenstrual syndrome. Hot flushes appear to be reported as one of the most unbearable menopausal symptoms and thankfully there are specific herbs that target hot flushes and sweating. I think it’s important to also mention the herbs we are so grateful for that help to reduce menopausal related mood changes such as irritability, depression and anxiety.

You may ask how effective the relief of naturopathy and herbs are going to be comparatively. In studies carried out in Italy and Germany herbal medicine proved to offer the same degree of menopausal relief as did HRT over a 3 month period.

One popular menopausal herb was used in a study with 50 women with the predominant symptoms among the women being hot flushes, sweating, and insomnia. A positively effective 98% experienced symptom improvement.
How absolutely amazing the body is designed with every function taken into consideration so that everything works perfectly. If we work with our body and support its natural functioning process it will come through for us every time.
For a women keeping herself in optimal health physically, mentally and emotionally with some forward thinking can mean a great deal of difference between the women’s life becoming a struggle for the next few years as oppose to entering a joyous new stage of her life.

I love the paragraph by Ruth Tricky in Women, Hormones, and the Menstrual Cycle which imparts what every women should understand and that is, “Rather than encouraging mid-life women to believe they have a disease,…encourage women to adopt positive lifestyle changes, good eating patterns, and a positive attitude to this phase.”
Tricky goes on to share the “research from one study found that the well-being of mid-life women was related to being physically well, exercising moderately, having a positive attitude to menopause and feeling happy. Exercising once per week was associated with fever symptoms, as were positive relationships and friendships.”

Top Tips for a Healthy Menopause

• Regular exercise
• Exercise is important for reducing all menopausal symptoms as well as in maintaining good bone density and cardiovascular health. Daily exercise is ideal but even 40min 3 times a week. This can be as simply and pleasurable as a walk on the beach, dancing, or yoga.
• Positive Attitude – Having a positive attitude about menopause and understanding that there are many things a woman can do to take control of how she feels.
• Caffeine and Alcohol – These two beverages can really affect hot flushes. For good health the least of these we have the better as they will affect the health of our liver and our adrenals. No more than 1 coffee per day and 2-3 alcoholic drinks per week.
• Healthy Diet – Be conscious of eating healthy. 4 cups of salad and vegetables a day, 2 pieces of fruit a day, good amounts of protein 3 times a day from a variety of vegetarian as well as meat sources. Keeping sugar to a treat once a week and 1 -2 serves of wholegrain a day include a small amount of good fats such as fish, nuts or olive oil.
• Emotional Wellness – Many people in our society have a tendency to move in and out of depression and anxiety for many years of their life. This will have greatly affected their adrenal function and therefore menopause when they reach this time in their life. It may be necessary to seek the assistance of a counsellor, psychologist or core- energetic therapist to work through these stresses. Core-Energetic Therapy is not as well known but is highly effective.
• Enough Quality Sleep – Getting 8 hours sleep a night is important but what’s really important is being asleep at least before 10pm most nights. Between 9pm -1pm is when our body goes into the delta wave sleep cycles and meaning this is the time when the body restores the nervous and immune systems as well as liver detoxification and hormone conversion and breakdown. The adrenals are an integral part of the nervous system. Naturopathic and Herbal assistance may be needed to make this possible.
• Down Time – A balance between being busy with work and family commitments, and having enough time out and relaxing is important. When women are over working and tired they will usually experience more frequent and severe hot flushes.

What about HRT and Bio-Identical Hormones Therapy?
The use of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) as well as bio-Identical hormones is taking the view that this natural process a women goes through where her production of reproductive hormone are reduced needs a medicated continuation of those hormones.
We now that at the time of a women’s life it is natural for progesterone to stop being produced and for oestrogen production to be taken care of from the adrenal glands. This is why I will often use 1-2 adrenal herbs as part of her herbal formula. The action of adrenal herbs in the mixture will support her struggling adrenals that have become worn out and therefore increase the overall adrenal function including the natural secretion of some oestrogen hormone. Not only will this relieve menopausal symptoms but it will also increase the feeling of wellbeing and vitality because we are providing nourishment and healing to the collapsed adrenal function therefore providing benefits to other areas of the women’s health, this is treating the underlying cause of the problem, bring the body into balance, HRT or Bio Identical Hormones won’t do this.

The confusing lies in that a woman will often feel the relief of her menopausal symptoms on a HRT or bio-identical hormone. This is because her vacant hormone receptor sites are being filled with a hormone. However for most women this is not the best option available for her health.

Based on the information from 2 long term trials, HRT is not the best option for the treatment of menopause. Many women are no longer comfortable taking HRT and many women taking HRT would like to stop but as soon as they do their menopausal symptoms return immediately.

We now that the use of a combined HRT oestrogen and progesterone results in a slight increase in breast cancer, when taken after menopause, especially when taken for 5 yrs or longer.
A women already taking HRT can introduce herbal medicine and then under the guidance of her practitioners be able to gradually reduce her HRT with minimal side effects.

Menopausal Symptoms that can be relieved through Naturopathy and Herbal Medicine

• Hot flushes with or without sweats
• Heavy bleeding
• Vaginal dryness
• Insomnia with or without night sweats
• Mood changes
• Irritability
• Depression
• Erratic irregular periods
• Bladder oversensitivity
• Low libido
• Low energy
• Bone integrity
• Cardiovascular integrity
• Breast health

MediHerb Seminar, Healthy Ageing with Angela Hywood 2011
Trickey, R. (2003) Women, Hormones & the Menstrual Cycle. 2nd ed. Allen&Unwin Griffin Press, South Australia.
Deanne is a dedicated and experienced practitioner with a wealth of understanding of the human mind and body and is passionate about empowering people to be proactive with their health and prevent or reverse disease or poor health naturally.