Healthy Eating for Women

In the not too distant past, menopause was quietly referred to as “the change,” and it wasn’t one that many women looked forward to. It seemed to signify not just the end of fertility but also of youthful vigor. Luckily, those days are largely gone. Today what is changing is our perception of menopause, enabling us to see it for what it is: another normal—even advantageous—biological phase of a woman’s life. However, modern women may fall victim to a new, perhaps more harmful, myth—that menopause is not simply a normal phase of life, but a medical diagnosis, one that carries the risks of heart disease, osteoporosis, and inexorable weight gain. One that demands treatment with hormones. One that carries with it as least as many dangers as benefits.
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Your life experiences have a dynamic effect on how you experience menopause, as is apparent by looking at other countries. For example, in many cultures unaffected by sweeping modern changes, menopause is often a welcome period of liberation from the burdens of menstruation, pregnancy, and child rearing.
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If some of the customs in Mexico and Greece seem odd, imagine how women around the world might look upon Western medicine’s answer to menopause. In the United States and other developed nations, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is standard. Menopause is not viewed as a normal phase of life, like losing baby teeth and growing taller, but as a condition that must be masked with drugs if life is to carry on with any normalcy. Many women enter menopause never having realized that their lifelong eating habits were a major contributor to their symptoms, or that there are gentler, more natural ways to ease them along the way.
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One of HRT’s greatest selling points is its supposed heartprotecting benefits. This has been widely misunderstood as well. Two large studies have confirmed that estrogen replacement therapy does not protect against heart attacks. For the past two decades, doctors have believed that estrogen helps the heart by lowering cholesterol levels and have passed this information on to their female patients. The first major study focusing on this issue followed 2,763 women for four years and found that, if anything, hormones may aggravate heart problems and also contribute to blood clots and gallbladder disease. In a second study, researchers looked at postmenopausal women with heart disease to find out whether HRT slows the buildup of fatty deposits in the heart arteries. No benefits were found.
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Researchers have long observed that Japanese women and men, whose diets have traditionally contained more soy foods, rice, and vegetables than are typical in the West, have far lower rates of breast and prostate cancer. Today, soy foods have gained tremendous popularity in the West in the form of veggieburgers, soy hot dogs, tofu, tempeh, and endless other products. Once found only in health food stores but now available in nearly every supermarket, soy products are in demand. And they have a very useful feature.
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Whether you choose soy products or a natural variety of vegetables, whole grains, beans, and fruits, the plant kingdom will share its medicinal value with you. It’s hard to believe that having a breakfast of whole grain cereal instead of eggs, or a dinner of vegetable stew instead of beef stew, can change our lives so profoundly, but individuals and whole populations reaffirm it day after day.

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If you experience menopausal symptoms after changing your diet, there are safer cures than prescription estrogens. First, treat yourself to a brisk walk each day. Walking, or any other kind of exercise, seems to alleviate hot flashes, and puts those mood-elevating endorphins to work. Vitamin E is helpful for some. It should be taken in doses of 400 to 800 IU per day, and not more than 100 IU per day for people with high blood pressure.

Andrew Weil, M.D., a well-known natural health expert, recommends the herbs dong quai, chaparral, and damiana, in capsules or as a tincture. Jesse Hanley, M.D., a family practitioner in Malibu, California, has found that certain Chinese herbs, called Changes for Women by Zand Herbal and Menofem by Prevail, provide relief for some patients. These supplements are available at most health food stores, although you’ll want to speak with a herbalist before using any of these compounds.
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If you are considering hormonal supplements, be aware that some preparations may be safer than others. Plant-derived transdermal creams containing the estrogen estriol and smaller amounts of other estrogens are available without a prescription. Current medical evidence indicates that their use probably does not increase cancer risk. Even so, whenever any estrogen creams, including estriol, are used, they should be accompanied by natural progesterone to safeguard against the risk of uterine cancer. Use should be monitored by a physician and tailored to a woman’s individual needs.

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We’ve seen how adequate levels of progesterone are essential in a woman’s body for many reproductive functions and overall wellbeing. The same is true during menopause. Too little progesterone can contribute to many common symptoms. Ideally, we would all be eating so many healthful plant foods that their natural progestogenic effects would already be at work, facilitating a symptom-free menopause. In many regions of the world this is exactly what happens.
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