Menopausal Natural Remedies and Weight Loss
For many women, menopause is a challenging time of transition from the reproductive years to the post-childbearing years. Menopause occurs when female hormones naturally decline, and a woman’s body stops causing egg follicles to mature every month in preparation for pregnancy.
Unfortunately, menopause can be difficult for some women because of its often uncomfortable symptoms. These can include hot flashes, insomnia, night sweats, mood swings, vaginal dryness, loss of interest in sex, and irritability. Unexpected weight gain is another frequent consequence of menopause.
Sometimes women who gain weight during menopause haven’t made any changes in their eating habits or exercise routine. This can be frustrating, prompting women to wonder what caused this sudden and unexpected weight gain. Other times, weight gain is a result of hormonally triggered overeating. Another cause of weight gain is the natural metabolic slow-down that happens as people age. This slower metabolism means excess calories or an unbalanced diet will have a far greater effect on menopausal women.
Body fat and estrogen also have a unique complementary role. Body fat helps regulate the production of estrogen, the female hormone that declines dramatically in menopause. Sometimes, the body will fight to hold on to fat in an effort to stabilize estrogen levels. Hormones and body fat also interact with each other in complex was that affect weight gain through changes in appetite, digestion, and metabolism.
Try using a more natural antidote to increased weight and other the negative symptoms of menopause, instead of turning to hormone therapy that is now linked to problems such as breast and reproductive cancers. Some of these remedies include black cohosh and sage, to regulate hot flashes; St. John’s Wort, a natural anti-depressant and stress alleviator and chasteberry, for moodiness and general hormonal imbalance.
Many women mistakenly believe that these remedies will prevent weight gain and other menpausal symtpoms by themselves. The fact is that the most you can to to prevent or even eliminate weight gain while going through menopause is to eat well and work out.
Eating a healthy, balanced diet rich in whole-foods is more effective approach than using herbal remedies. There are many herbal remedies available to alleviate menopausal symptoms. However, many women find that healthy eating and exercise are enough, and they do not need to waste their money on such products.
It is important for a healthy diet to concentrate on ingesting healthy fats in moderation and not eating bad fats at all. Whole grains, fruits, and vegetables should form the bulk of the diet, supplemented by lean protein and dairy foods (or non-dairy foods that contain calcium). Keep away alcohol food, and spicy food, if you are caffeine aggravates symptoms of menopause, and of course, pass up fried and fatty foods, excess sugar, and junk.
If you drink 8 cups of water daily and work out for approximately a half hour as many times as possible weekly, then you will be making progress towards losing a lot of weight, even if you′re going through menopause. As you adopt a healthy diet and exercise plan that keeps your hormone levels on an even pace, you will see that the symptoms of menopause will lessen.
