Tag Archives: menopause

Paleo Diet Could be Best for Postmenopausal Weight Loss

Vegetable writing: Paleo

A recent article from Web MD suggests that adhering to a Paleo diet may help post menopausal women lose weight, as well as reduce their risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Researchers claim that these benefits can be experienced without calorie restriction due to the nature of the Paleo diet.

What is Paleo?

The Paleo diet encourages eating foods that our ancestors in the paleolithic period consumed. This means only eating foods found in nature such as lean meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, and nuts and seeds while foods that modern farming brought to the table, such as dairy products, grains and legumes should be limited, if not completely eliminated, from the diet.

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Posted on April 20, 2024 by Mariah Edwards-Heflin

3 Most Important Hormones for a Woman’s Good Health

women

It’s a popular punchline in movies and TV sitcoms when a woman is acting irrational — “It’s her hormones.” As it turns out, there’s more than a kernel of truth in this stereotype. While wonky hormone levels can’t be blamed for every strange thing a woman says or does, they can be the culprit in a variety of areas. Shape Magazine’s talking about the 20 most important hormones for our health (yes, 20!). We’re looking at the ones most key for women.

3 Important Hormones for Women’s General Health

Estrogens

This household-name hormone is produced in the ovaries and helps control sexual development (puberty, menstrual cycle, pregnancy) and also maintain bone strength. When levels are too high, it can cause increased risk of breast cancer, dementia and even uterine cancer.

Progestogens

As the uterus prepares for fertilization, these levels rise after ovulation, maintaining the uterine lining in preparation for implantation and throughout gestation. If pregnancy doesn’t occur, levels drop, causing menstruation to start. (more…)

Posted on September 1, 2023 by Cat Poland

5 Ways to Eat, Drink and be Less Menopausal

By Team Best Life

Menopause is thought of as just one of those things every woman has to go through, including its less-than-comfortable symptoms. But studies show that women can control just how bad menopausal symptoms are. It all depends on…

menopause
What you eat. Want to lower your incidence of hot flashes and night sweats? Avoid foods with refined sugar and high fats (like candy, cake or other sugary snacks). In one Australian study of 6,000 women, these foods correlated with a higher likelihood of hot flashes and night sweats. On the flip side, women whose diet was high in fruit and fish reported lower incidences of these symptoms.

What you drink. The Harvard Women’s Health Study revealed something surprising: Women who drink alcohol—just one drink a day—are less likely to gain weight in mid-life than those who don’t drink at all. (One drink equals 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of hard liquor.) Red wine was found to be particularly protective. According to the researchers, this might be because women metabolize alcohol in a way that makes it less likely to result in increased fat. (more…)

Posted on October 18, 2023 by BestLifeDiet

Look Fabulous After 40, Today on Dr. Oz

“If you’re about to turn 40, you can’t afford to miss this show,” says Dr. Oz of an upcoming episode focusing on women’s health issues after the age of 40. The show focuses on equipping women in their 40s, 50s and 60s to feel reenergized about the second half of their life. 

In what Dr. Oz calls his, “My Book of 40: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving the Second Half of Your Life,” he presents solutions that every women needs for her later years of her life.

Dr. Oz will address a number of health and beauty concerns, including everything from menopause to sexual health to aging fears. For a taste of what to expect, the first chapter of “My Book of 40” is called Fatigue Fighters. This segment will walk viewers through ways to feel re-energized thanks to simple items that can fit in your purse like cheese, tea and edamame – which contains 11 grams of protein per half cup serving.

Two other important topics to be discussed are menopause and sex drive. One expert on the show suggests using progesterone cream to re-boost sex drive and even help stabilize hormone levels.

Yet another expert featured on this episode will explain how what you eat, and changing what you eat can help normalize your blood sugar levels and fight off weight gain and fatigue. (more…)

Posted on August 21, 2023 by Dana

Prevent Breast Cancer After Menopause by Exercising Now

It’s common knowledge that exercise is good for your health and new studies are emerging every day that further validate this. One new study recently published in the journal Cancer examined more than 3,000 women, some with breast cancer and some not. Of the 3,000 women studied, those that exercised throughout their childbearing years were less likely to have breast cancer after menopause. Women who started exercising after menopause saw the same results of lower instances of breast cancer.

The lead researcher on this project was Lauren McCullough of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. When speaking about the results, she stated, “What we can say is exercise is good for you. It’s never too late to start. Our evidence suggests that if you start after menopause you can still help yourself.”

This study revealed that women who exercised between 10 and 19 hours per week during the years between having their first child and entering menopause reduced their likeliness of breast cancer by one third over those who didn’t exercise during that time. Those women that exercised nine to 17 hours per week and started after going through menopause were also 30 percent less likely to have breast cancer than those who were sedentary. Things like education, smoking and income were also accounted for in the study. (more…)

Posted on June 28, 2023 by Descygna

Maya Abdominal Therapy Helps Women Gain Better Overall Health

Women who partake in activities that involve repeated jarring or bouncing such as running, tennis, or high-impact aerobics may be putting themselves at risk for worsened symptoms of pre menstrual syndrome, or even infertility. When a woman’s body experiences whiplash or sudden jerking, the uterus can swing out of alignment. While often unnoticed or overlooked, this misalignment may just be the cause of female woes and discomforts. Thankfully, there is a technique that offers a natural and holistic remedy to assist in a variety of gynecological issues in women.

In the early 1990s, Brazilian native Dr. Rosita Arvigo developed the Arvigo Technique of Maya Abdominal Therapy. After ten years of apprenticing with Don Elijio Panti, an internationally acclaimed Mayan healer and shaman, Arvigo created her unique style of healing massage to readjust the position of the uterus and relax other abdominal organs.

Arvigo’s late mentor and teacher used to say, “If a woman’s uterus is out of balance, so is she.” Arvigo took these words of wisdom and added them to her decades of training in holistic modalities, and founded a system that has helped women all over the world. (more…)

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Jill

Seaweed Can Increase Cancer Risk for Post-Menopausal Women

A Japanese study released Wednesday said post-menopausal women who consumed seaweed had an increased risk of developing thyroid cancer, linking it to iodine in the macrobiotic food.

The national survey included nearly 53,000 Japanese women over 14 years. They looked at women aged 40 to 69 and found the group reported 134 thyroid cancer cases and 113 of those cases were papillary carcinoma.

Papillary carcinoma is a relatively common well-differentiated thyroid cancer. According to Medscape.com, these tumors may spread easily to other organs. The life expectancy of patients with this cancer is related to their age. The prognosis is better for younger patients than for patients who are older than 45 years.

According to the study, women who ate seaweed daily were 1.7 times more likely to develop cancer than those who ate it no more than twice a week.

The risk doubled among post-menopausal women, they were 3.8 times more likely to develop cancer than those who limited their intake. (more…)

Posted on April 12, 2024 by Kristina

2 Supplements That Ease Menopause Symptoms

Hot flashes. Night sweats. Mood swings. With recent studies showing the dangers of hormone replacement therapy, women are looking to natural remedies for relief from symptoms of menopause.

Menopause is a natural, gradual process that ends ovulation. This means no more Aunt Flo visits once a month. The average woman begins menopause around age 51, but this can vary. Procedures like radiation can cause menopause to occur sooner and smokers are also more likely to begin menopause early.

Menopause has officially begun when your periods stop for 12 consecutive months with no other possible explanation. Here are some of the most common herbal supplements used for relief of symptoms during perimenopause, which is the gradual transition to menopause.

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Posted on November 3, 2023 by Sarah

Use Yoga to Relieve Menopause Symptoms

Menopause occurs in women sometime after the age of 40. It is defined as the end of a woman’s menstrual cycle and can be highly symptomatic. Symptoms vary in intensity and duration and can last for years. The most common symptoms are hot flashes, anxiety and loss in sex drive. Other symptoms include incontinence, digestive problems and bone loss.

Since menopause is a natural biological process, not a disease, holistic measures prove to be helpful in relieving the symptoms. The following is a list of specific yoga poses that can help when the symptoms of menopause are bringing you down.

Child’s Pose for Hot Flashes

Hot Flashes are the result of abrupt changes in your body’s ability to regulate temperature and can be triggered by stress. Calming down equals cooling down. Spend up to three minutes in this pose, inhaling through your mouth (cooling the air as it comes in) and exhaling through your nose, to relax your body completely.

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Posted on September 12, 2023 by Jill

Celiac Disease Linked to Early Menopause

Gluten is in the news again. Recent reports are showing that women who are undiagnosed or untreated for celiac disease may hit menopause early.

Celiac disease affects the immune system. For those who suffer from the disease, when the protein gluten is digested, it causes damage to the small intestine and prevents nutrient absorption. Gluten is found in a whole host of foods, like those containing wheat, barley, and rye. When someone with celiac disease eats foods containing gluten, the body can react with dangerous side effects, such as chronic diarrhea, which can further rob the body of essential nutrients. These nutrient deficiencies are thought to be the cause for earlier menopause in women with celiac disease.

Early menopause is not the only new finding in regards to undiagnosed celiac disease in women. The same studies have found that the rate of miscarriage and premature birth was higher among those with untreated celiac disease.

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Posted on June 30, 2023 by Lacy

What You Need to Know About Natural and Artificial Hormones

Carolyn Dean, MD, ND is a health pioneer with over 25 years of experience with women’s health issues. She’s authored 22 books including “Future Health Now Encyclopedia”, “The Complete Natural Guide to Women’s Health, “Hormone Balance”, “Menopause Naturally”, “The Yeast Connection and Women’s Health”, “IBS for Dummies” and “The Magnesium Miracle”. She is the medical director for the Nutritional Magnesium Association. For more info you can access a Free 32-page guide to the benefits of magnesium written by Dr. Dean at the non-profit www.nutritionalmagnesium.org.

Hormones have an important role to play in every woman’s health and well-being. When hormone levels fluctuate, this can cause weight gain and affect your ability to lose weight as well as affect mood, sexual desire, fertility and ovulation.

The female hormones estrogen and progesterone are produced by the female body in specific ratios every month. An imbalance of either can cause menopause and all the symptoms associated with it. These hormones are influenced by certain factors such as nutrition, diet, lifestyle, exercise, stress, emotions, age and ovulation. When estrogen and progesterone dance to the tune of stress and chemical disruption, they can fluctuate wildly and then gradually decline as we age.

Aging brings its own “blessings”—wisdom and memories—but also the possibility of weight gain and declining organ function—thyroid and adrenals, especially.

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Posted on June 8, 2023 by GuestBlogger