Although menopause is a natural phase in a woman’s life it is accompanied by a very significant change in your hormone balance.  This has effects throughout your body including headaches, joint pain, poor quality sleep, weight gain and of course hot flushes.

As discussed last week the root cause of your hormone imbalance and signs of menopause is too much of the wrong type of oestrogen in your system.  Xenoestrogens are chemical compounds that mimic oestrogen and you’re exposed to several 100 each day.  They’re commonly found in:

  • Drinking water – synthetic oestrogens from the birth control pill and HRT enter our water system
  • Farming methods – pesticides used on the fruit and vegetables that we eat
  • Plastic packaging – BPA is a chemical used to coat plastics and packaging that mimics oestrogen
  • Processed meats – contain numerous chemicals that form xenoestrogens

How to avoid xenoestrogens:

  • Drink filtered water
  • Switch to organic foods that haven’t been exposed to pesticides, fungicides and herbicides. If you can’t go organic wash all your vegetables very carefully
  • Use BPA free plastic bottles and food containers
  • Eat grass fed organic meat

It’s impossible to avoid all xenoestrogens so crucial to managing your menopause symptoms including menopause weight gain is to flush out the ones you are exposed to.  There are two key ways to do that:

  1. Consume plenty of good oestrogens which are naturally occurring in many fruits and vegetables.  These good oestrogens known as phytonutrients will lock into your cells and prevent them from taking in xenoestrogens.
  2. Support your liver.  First thing every morning have a cup of hot water with half a squeezed fresh lemon to gently detoxify your liver.

Menopause – chemical v natural solutions

Doctors often treat menopause as though it is an illness and will prescribe HRT which keeps your hormones at an artificially high level in an unnatural way.  But menopause doesn’t have to be viewed as an illness requiring treatment.  Just like puberty it’s a natural stage in the female lifecycle.

Would you advocate putting a young woman on drugs to get her through puberty?  So why are women in their 40s and 50s given drugs at the first signs of menopause?

HRT is not the only solution – you have choices – lifestyle, nutrition and exercise choices.

Next week I’ll share five smart, straightforward solutions to achieve a healthy and natural menopause.  You’ll discover how you can avoid hot flushes, emotional outbursts and night sweats the natural way.