Make Premenopause Easier With The Right Diet
October 15th, 2011
Learn more about herbal menopause remedies
Until recently our society has denied the affect of diet on our health. The food we eat literally becomes our body tissue.
While we comprehend the importance of diet in heart disease, we may not understand that this relationship is also true with regard to menopause and diet.
“Let your food be your medicine” applies to menopause and diet. The dictim from Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine is being embraced slowly by modern medicine.
A glaring instance of the actuality of this is found by comparing the experience of American women versus Japanese women with regard to menopause. Take the most common complaint of menopause, hot flushes and sweats. The frequency of hot flashes among American women in menopause is eighty to eight-five percent. Learn more about hot flashes.
Why then do merely 30% of Japanese women suffer from hot flashes during premenopause. This glaring difference is attributed to the Japanese diet which is high in phytoestrogens.
Its not only hot flushes, but all premenopause complaints that are relieved by the estrogen rich Japanese diet.
It is the high content of soy products in the Japanese diet that supplies the phytoestrogens. Tofu, soy sauce, edamame, tempeh and soybean vegetable oil are examples of soy based foods. There are soy foods eaten at breakfast, lunch and dinner in Japan. Because of the high soy consumption, the Japanese consume lots of phytoestrogens.
The food estrogens from soy products help replenish dropping estrogen levels due to perimenopause. This is why there is a much lower incidence of hot flashes among Japanese women in menopause.
How the Okinawa diet can allay perimenopause problems
A particular area of Japan, Okinawa, features a diet that has been widely shown to have varied health benefits. No people on earth are as healthy as those living in the vicinity of Okinawa, Japan. null Their diet has been found to be the main reason for their extraordinary health.
The diet of the Okinawans has been researched and was popularized recently through the book entitled The Okinawa Diet Plan. It should come as no surprise that the primary components of the Okinawan diet are vegetables, soy products and other legumes, fruit and fish. Compared to Americans, the Okinawans consume no sugar, starch, fat or dairy. Soybean intake by Okinawans is high, between sixty and one hundred and twenty grams per day. This is compared to American average consumption of zero grams daily.
The best diet for relief of perimenopause complaints
The first thing you must do to get relief of premenopause related problems is to examine your diet. There’s no way around it. You don’t have to eat the Okinawa diet, which would be tough for most Americans. But you do need to change in that direction, away from the standard American diet (SAD). The good news is that it will profit your health, energy levels and enjoyment in life too.
The solution is easy. Focus on these two aspects of your diet.
* A healthy diet. null Over the past ten years our health officials have been speaking about the food pyramid and eating healthier. Remember when grandma used to say “eat your vegetables”. We’ve known what a healthy diet is for decades. Your foundation is five to seven servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Don’t eat a lot of meat, and try to eat lean meat when you do. Protein sources like soybeans, other legumes, nuts and seeds are healthier than meat.
Sugars and starches are nutrient poor.
Ingest these white foods as little as possible. Artificial sweeteners should be avoided as well. They are worse for one’s health than sugar. Researchers are finding that these “sweet” chemicals are excitatory to the brain and can cause brain damage. The only sweetener that I would recommend is one derived from the herb stevia. You can find it easily in most grocery or natural food stores. Don’t eat too much dairy—milk, cheese, yogurt. Avoiding sugars also means getting rid of sugary drinks like pop and other sweet drinks. We use stimulants like coffee as a pick me up. It is better to not use them on a routine basis, but to save them for special occasions.
2. Make estrogen rich foods part of your daily diet. Find and enjoy foods that are high in phytoestrogens. Some of the foods that are high in phytoestrogens are flax seed, soy beans, sesame seeds, mung beans, apricots, alfalfa seeds, dates, sunflower seeds and olive oil. Find a good cookbook specifically for estrogen plentiful foods. The Natural Way by Nina Sandler is one that I suggest. You’ll be surprised by the yummy recipe’s in the book.
And that’s all there is to it. Eat a diet plentiful in phytoestrogens, eat generally healthy foods and avoid empty calories and stimulants. Another strategy that will make it all the easier is to take a phytoestrogen rich herb. Herbs like Siberian rhubarb root have been shown to dramatically relieve menopause complaints.
The right combination of natural remedies (ie phytoestrogen herbs and estrogen rich foods) can get much better results than any drug can—because there’s little to no downside to a natural approach.
Learn more about premenopause and diet, phytoestrogen containing herbs and other natural perimenopause remedies at http://estrogenrichfoods.com
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