7 Natural Lifestyle Tips to Help Manage Menopause

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During pre-adolescence, I waited for my cycle to begin with a gnawing fear of the unknown. With trepidation, I listened to girls in my sixth-grade social studies class describe in detail their physical right of passage. At 13, I finally made it through the gateway to womanhood. Now 41 years later, I am navigating menopause, the darker side of the hormonal territory. 

Maybe you feel like you are standing at the cusp of a hormonal vortex getting ready to plunge into mentalpause. Perhaps you are drowning in menopausal symptoms, and you can’t quite figure how to prevent or deal with those epic menopostal episodes. Help is here.

There are natural ways to deal with menopause.

Years ago, a chronic illness decided to wreak havoc on my adrenal glands (the command post for the most potent hormones which affect every system in the body). Lyme disease disrupted my delicate hormonal balance, so I studied everything I could about those chemical messengers that control:

• mood
• stress level
• metabolism
• sleep
• reproductive function
• memory

I am here to help you stomp out thoughts of insecurity and fear that might grip you as you walk through this midlife change.

What can you do about menopause? You can approach this transitional period (bad pun) with tools that cultivate a natural lifestyle approach to soulful well-being, good health, and help with menopause.

Some of the tips included cultivate and nourish a lifestyle of healthy living. With the help of your healthcare practitioner, gather as much information about your hormone levels with the help of blood tests.

Natural Lifestyle Tips to Manage Menopause

Tip #1: Food Factors

Start with the most fundamental act—eating.

Revamp your eating plan by adding cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussel sprouts, dandelion greens, etc.).

Consume foods that are higher in phytoestrogens like raw nuts, flax seeds, oats, lentils, rye, fennel, chickpeas, and sesame.

Even though soy is a potent phytoestrogen, there has been some controversy surrounding the effects this legume ( classified as a grain in the commodity market) has on hormones. However, studies show that menopausal symptoms rarely occur among women in Asian cultures whose diet consists of foods with a higher concentration of phytoestrogens.

Whenever possible, your safest choice is to find organic (genetically modified organisms (GMOs), is prohibited in organic products.)

Organic food reduces your chances of exposure to estrogen-mimicking chemicals found in fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides used in commercial farming (the “ides” of conventional agriculture). These manufactured chemicals disrupt female hormone balance.

Here is the 2019 Environmental Working Group’s list of the dirty dozen and the Clean 15 of produce.

Tip #2: Lifestyle

Fluctuations of hormones add stress to the body. In any given day, your hormones will change as often as some women change outfits. Your adrenal glands will do all they can to support your fickle hormones.

Incorporate soulful exercise/activities into your week. If you want to do spin classes, that is fine. More importantly, practice soulful exercises/activities that help you clear the chaos in your mind and reduce stress. Try walking, hiking, biking, painting, journaling, etc.

Get Plenty of Rest. Rest is a crucial factor in healing your body. Most menopausal women, 60% at least, experience some level of sleep issues. Whether you wake up multiple times throughout the night or have difficulty going to sleep, any disruption in your sleep routine can lead to other problems.

Sleep deprivation or interrupted sleep can bring out the mean girl in you. Irritability, depression, fatigue, brain fog are weighty companions during the day.

To guarantee a restful night, you can establish a bedtime routine. Incorporate some or all of the suggestions:

• Diffuse essential oil in your bedroom. Lavender, chamomile (if you are allergic to ragweed avoid this herb), essential oil sleep blends promote relaxation.
• Take a warm bath and add fragrance-free Epsom salts and essential oils.
• Sip hot tea, like chamomile, Sleepy Time, skull cap, or passionflower
• Move your cell phone and all electronic devices away from your nightstand.
• Avoid caffeine after 3 pm.
• Investigate the use of supplements like valerian, melatonin, Kava kava, lemon balm, passionflower.
• Get to bed early

MenoSense is a product that combines critical supplements for relief from hot flashes, night sweats, and insomnia.

Tip #3: Supplements That Ease Menopausal Symptoms

• Chaste Tree Berry (Vitex)
• Black Cohosh
• Calcium/Magnesium with vitamin D
• Probiotics
• St. John’s Wort
• Adaptogens (Ashwagandha, Rhodiola, Holy Basil, Eleuthero)
• Fish oil/Omega-3 Fatty Acids (for hot flashes)
• Vitamin B Complex and Vitamin B6
• Macapause

Tip#4 Essential Oils That Help With Menopause

• Clary Sage 
• Cedarwood
• Chamomile
• Valerian
• Balance Essential Oil Blend
• Harmony Essential Oil Blend

Tip #5 Use Non-Toxic Body Care and Cosmetic Products

For reasons mentioned in Tip #1 Food Factors, you are going to want to minimize your exposure to environmental chemicals. As for body-care products, the cosmetic and body-care industry uses parabens as a preservative and fragrant ingredient.

The toxic contents, carcinogenic in some cases, in conventional make-up products could weaken or disrupt your endocrine system.

Here is a short list of toxic cosmetic chemicals to avoid:

1. BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) nicknames: benzoic and benzyl
2. DMDM hydantoin preservative that releases formaldehyde (yes, the same liquid you used in high school biology class)
3. Parabens (alkyl-p-hydroxybenzoate) a major endocrine disruptor
4. Phthalates Family and the Phthalate cousins: DEP (diethyl phthalate), DBP (dibutyl phthalates), DEHP (diethylhexyl phthalates).
5. Sodium Laurel Sulfate

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) provides a cosmetic database that rates the safety of ingredients. The healthy Living app helps you to make healthier and safer choices about your body-care purchases.

Tip # 6 Use Green Household Products

Bisphenol-A (commonly known as BPA) serves as a synthetic estrogen hormone disruptor used in the plastics industry. If you drink bottled water, look for #1, #2, and #4 on the bottom of the bottle. Those numbers indicate that the container is BPA-free.

Here are ways to avoid BPA:

• Buy a glass or stainless steel water bottle.
• Look for the BPA-free stamp on canned food.
• Never use plastic containers in the microwave.

Download the Environmental Working Group’s Healthy Living app to your phone. By scanning a product’s bar code, the app then rates the safety of the product.

Tip #7 Maintain a Robust Spiritual Life

Tip #7 is the most important tip to remember. Curating the optimum menopause protocol could take some time. You may try a few supplements before you determine what works for you.

During this unsettling phase when everything in your body seems to change by the week, the truth of scripture remains constant and unchanging.

You will find immense hope in the transformative power of God’s Word. Use God’s resources of the earth responsibly and wisely to nourish, strengthen, and heal your body.

Tips to Help You Through Menopause

You can minimize, maybe even eliminate, menopausal symptoms with a wholesome, organic food plan, green body-care and household products, soulful exercise, natural supplements, and a healthy spiritual life.

All information has been added to encourage, inspire, and inform readers to make lifestyle decisions that intersect a passion for the health of the body and soul. I am not a doctor, but the information that I provide is well-researched.