17/10/2025
🔥 MENOPAUSE 🔥
As you may know, menopause marks the end of a woman’s fertile years and occurs once you stop having your period. Once menopause begins, the ovaries start producing lower levels of the reproductive hormones oestrogen and progesterone. The average age for menopause in New Zealand is 51.5 years but it can occur anytime between the ages of 42 and 56.
Perimenopause is the period of five or so years up to the last period when menstruation becomes irregular or occurs less often and eventually ceases. During this time hormone levels change and you may begin to experience changes in your body. After menopause your body achieves a new hormonal balance, however during the transition phase, the changes in hormone levels can have a number of effects on women!!
👉 SYMPTOMS:
➜ irregular periods (when periods come closer together or further apart), and when blood flow becomes lighter or heavier.
➜ hot flushes
➜ night sweats
➜ headaches and migraines
➜ disturbed sleep patterns
➜ vaginal dryness
➜ joint pain
➜ fatigue
➜ short-term memory problems
➜ dry eyes
➜ dizziness
➜ itchy or ‘creepy’ skin
➜ mood swings
➜ anxiety and irritability
➜ lower libido or s*x drive
➜ difficulty concentrating and making decisions
👉 This is a question that many women ask.....
How can I manage Menopause??
When it comes to menopause, the first thing that I would generally suggest to my clients is a liver detox. The liver generates heat in the body which then contributes towards the hot flushes.
Adequate exercise, a healthy, balanced diet, taking time for rest and relaxation can all help address the symptoms of menopause.
🥵 Hot flushes and night sweats 🥵
Up to 80% of women experience hot flushes but they tend to go away within one to two years. Common triggers for hot flushes are caffeine, alcohol, and spicy food. Traditional or natural remedies that women have reported to be useful include a diet rich in legumes, grains, nuts and seeds, sage tea (drink luke warm to cool), black cohosh, or acupuncture, and once again....Liver Detox!
Menopause is not an illness. It is a natural phase in life, like puberty, pregnancy and childbirth. Even though menopause is not an illness some of the symptoms of the hormonal changes can cause temporary discomfort. However, over the last fifty years western medicine has increasingly defined menopause as a condition that must be treated.
This is where many women resort to taking HRT, without really knowing about the risks involved. These include:
➜ Even short-term use of combined HRT (oestrogen and progesterone) is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, melanoma, lung cancer (in current smokers), ovarian cancer, stroke, blood clots, and a doubled risk of dementia for women over 65.
➜ There is an increased risk for heart attacks when a woman is more than ten years past menopause. Oestrogen alone carries an increased risk of stroke, blood clots and dementia. It increases the risk of ovarian cancer. It may increase the risk of breast cancer. Oestrogen alone increases the risk of cancer of the lining of the uterus.
👉 How do hormonal imbalances have a link to menopause?
Hormones are the messengers in the body that travel through the blood stream to start, stop, speed up or slow down your physical and chemical functions and processes across all body systems. Your ovaries are the source of estrogen and progesterone, the two key hormones that control the reproductive system, including the menstrual cycle and fertility in women. You are born with all the eggs you will ever have. The eggs are in the follicles, which are found in the ovaries. During menopause, the number of ovarian follicles declines and the ovaries become less responsive to the two other hormones involved in reproduction—Luteinizing Hormone (LH) and Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH). As your ovaries age and release fewer hormones, FSH and LH can no longer perform their usual functions to regulate your estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. These inevitable changes in your hormones and natural decline of estrogen levels during menopause can significantly affect your health for years to come.
👉 Natural ways to support your body through this life phase:
D**G QUAI:
D**g quai should never be used by women with fibroids or blood-clotting problems such as hemophilia, or by women taking drugs that affect clotting such as warfarin (Coumadin) as bleeding complications can result.
GINSENG:
Research has shown that ginseng may help with some menopausal symptoms, such as mood symptoms and sleep disturbances, and with one's overall sense of well-being. However, it has not been found to be helpful for hot flashes.
EVENING PRIMROSE OIL:
This botanical is also promoted to relieve hot flashes. Evening primrose oil should not be used with anticoagulants or phenothiazines (a type of psychotherapeutic agent).
SAGE:
Also known as Salvia officinalis; sage is a well-known herb used for its aroma and taste in culinary dishes. Sage is also widely used to help support temperature balance in the body, reducing hot flushes, night sweats and excessive sweating, common symptoms through the menopause transition. A tonic for the nervous system, sage has a calming effect on the body; it is helpful for nervous exhaustion and can improve clarity of thought, memory and vitality.
WILD YAM:
Also known by its Latin name, Dioscorea villosa, this herb should not be confused with the yams found in your kitchen. Wild yam is a different species that is known for its active ingredient diosgenin, which is a phytoestrogen. Wild yam has traditionally been used to help support menopause as its oestrogenic effect balances hormones. Wild yam has been used to support the management of hot flushes that are associated with low oestrogen, as well as night sweats, fatigue and memory loss.
ZIZIPHUS:
Ziziphus jujube is a frequently used herb in traditional Chinese medicine that aids the nervous system. Ziziphus helps to calm and sooth a tired mind, supporting those who have difficulty getting to sleep and helping to develop healthy sleeping patterns. Anxiety and worry can bring on hot flushes, Ziziphus helps to manage these anxieties and the subsequent hot flushes and night sweats.
Hope you have found this information useful, and if you do have any questions or would like to have a chat, feel free to send me a message, I would love to hear from you! ☺️
