Transcript Women `s Health Workshop #2

Women’s Health Workshop #2
Natural Approaches to Address :
Menopausal Symptoms…
Getting well…
and…
Alternative Approaches to HRT…
Menopause…
In this Workshop, we will look at the
symptoms of menopause and the connection
of symptoms to diet, lifestyle and adrenal
health. More importantly, we’ll look at how
to naturally help regain balance through
nutritional and herbal approaches, dietary
changes, and lifestyle/activity, with the use
of hormone replacement therapy as a last
resort.
Areas we’ll cover today…
Menopause and common symptoms…
How adrenal health, diet and lifestyle affect
menopausal symptoms…
Natural approaches for reducing symptoms and
improving health…
We’ll discuss PMS and approaches in more detail in
Workshop #1… We’ll discuss endometriosis, poly-cystic
ovary disease, uterine fibroids, and other hormone-related
health concerns in Workshop #3, while Workshop #4
focuses on reducing the risk of breast cancer…
Menopause…
What is menopause ? ? ?
Menopause is the timeframe after menses have
ceased for approx. 9 - 12 months. This is usually
preceded by peri-menopause, where irregular
menses and fluctuations in estrogen and
progesterone lead to menopausal symptoms, such
as hot flashes, night sweats, mood changes, etc…
Fatigue, stress, adrenal reserves, and a host of other
health-related conditions can increase or decrease
the severity of menopausal symptoms…
Menopause…
What causes these symptoms ? ? ?
Normally, the ovaries produce varying amounts of
estrogen and progesterone as the menstrual cycle
progresses. When menses cease, ovarian
production of estrogen and progesterone drops.
This results in a considerable reduction in these
hormones. Estrogen for example keeps vascular
tone, and when estrogen levels fluctuate, vascular
tone also fluctuates causing the small peripheral
capillaries to spasm… Blood rushes in and then
the “hot flash”…
Menopause…
How can I more accurately determine my present
hormone health status ?
In order to understand the status of your estrogen,
progesterone and adrenal hormones, you can take a simple
post-menopausal salivary hormone test and adrenal stress
index test… These tests will give you an idea of where
your sex and stress hormone levels are, and will help
develop an approach to get you back in balance, naturally.
Menopause…
Must I take these hormone tests to use any
natural approaches to symptom relief ?
These hormone tests are not necessary to try some of
the natural approaches to alleviating symptoms…
Many times, they work just fine, however, if
you’re not getting the results you’d like, these
hormone tests can pinpoint areas requiring focus
to help get better, more consistent results…
Menopause…
How Adrenal health, Stress and Fatigue affect
menopausal symptoms…
Since a normal, healthy woman produces about 20% of her
circulating estrogens via the adrenal glands, any stress,
fatigue and weakened adrenals will cause much lower post
menopausal estrogen levels in some women. When
ovarian estrogens and progesterone stops, in most of these
women, this causes undue menopausal symptoms !
Menopause…
What steps can I take to reduce these menopausal
symptoms ?
Reducing stress, improving diet/lifestyle and using targeted
supplements can improve adrenal health and reduce
fatigue. This process indirectly helps to improve hormone
health and can help reduce menopausal symptoms. That’s
why it’s important to treat these symptoms as not only
normal “change of life” but as possible lack of
adrenal/organ reserves…
Menopause…
What can I do now to help with these symptoms
while I get healthier ? ? ?
The natural approach to menopausal symptoms is two-fold…
Use targeted nutritional and herbal formulas that may help
reduce symptoms now…
Work diet, lifestyle, and supplementation to help improve
over-all health and strengthen adrenal/organ reserve…
Utilize exogenous hormones as a last resort…
Menopause…
Targeted nutritional and herbal supplements
for menopause…
Wild Yam Complex 2 tablets AM and 2 tablets PM
for 30 days or until symptoms diminish. Then
lower the dose until symptoms begin to worsen…
Tribulus 1 tablet 3X/day in addition to the Wild Yam
Complex for those who are not experiencing
relief. Then lower dosage as needed.
Menopause…
Targeted nutritional and herbal
supplements for menopause…
Black Cohosh 2.5ml (1/2 metric tsp) 1 – 3X/day to
help lower menopausal symptoms… Some
women prefer Black Cohosh to Wild Yam…
Menopause…
So… I’ve tried some of these remedies for about 60
days now, and I’m not getting enough relief !
Usually, this can mean your adrenals are not up to providing
the minimal levels of estrogen and progesterone needed to
minimize your symptoms. This can be due to stress, poor
dietary habits, and need for targeted supplementation to
help increase adrenal reserves… If you tend to be
fatigued, this is a sign that you’re under adrenal stress…
Now… lets discuss approaches for FATIGUE !
Fatigue…
Our definition of fatigue is more of a
persistent lack of energy or inability to
perform daily tasks without undue effort…
It is not an occasional over-tired feeling
from lack of sleep…
Our definition stems from consistent physical,
mental or emotional stresses and other
factors preventing recovery and health…
Fatigue…
Lifestyle and diet are major contributors to fatigue.
Many of us are faced with the stresses of work, traffic,
school, family, and and a host of demands others or we
place on ourselves on a consistent basis…
Poor dietary choices add to this stress and don’t provide the
basic healing nutrients needed to allow rest and recovery…
These choices actually add physical stress to the emotional
stresses and wear us down.
We keep running on “empty”.
Fatigue…
Most Americans would say that they deal
with stress daily…
You’re not alone… Most Americans, including our
children, deal with stresses on a daily basis.
Proper sleep, at least 2 - 3 healthy meals per day,
consistent activity/exercise and key nutritional
supplementation can reduce the negative effects of
stress…
Fatigue…
How do dietary choices play a role ? ? ?
Skipping Breakfast is one habit many of us have. Right when
your body needs nourishment to get the day started, we
grab a cup of coffee, maybe some HIGH carb junk food
and hit the road. Our bodies need protein and whole-foods
that can provide energy and nutrition we need for the
day… Not getting this in the AM already sets our day up
for failure ! This is why we seem to run out of gas late in
the morning, or have food cravings before lunch time…
Fatigue…
How do dietary choices play a role ? ? ?
The foods we consume have a lot to do with energy and
fatigue… When our diets consist of a lot of simple carbs,
sugars and starches, these provide nearly instant energy,
since they cause a rapid rise in blood sugar… However, the
body tries to keep blood sugar in balance, by increasing
insulin production to force the sugar into the tissues. We
can’t use up all the sugar, so much of it is converted to fat
and stored. Blood sugar goes down rapidly and we are
tired and hungry again… A vicious cycle !
Fatigue…
How do dietary choices play a role ? ? ?
So what happens ? ? ? Well, cortisol, our stress hormone also
stimulates increasing our blood sugar and with a high
simple carb diet, insulin and cortisol chase each other
around our metabolism… We end up feeling stressed and
fatigued. We have little energy reserves and our ability to
recover and replenish diminishes… We’re fatigued most
of the time… If we continue on this path of catabolism or
constant breakdown, we can’t heal…
Fatigue…
So, now what can I do ? ? ?
There are three things that should be done to get
back on the path to recovering energy and health.
1. Reduce stress or find ways to properly deal
with it…
2. Improve diet, and lifestyle choices…
3. Use targeted nutritional supplements to help
replenish organ/gland reserves and energy…
Fatigue…
What are some smart dietary choices ? ? ?
Increase the amount of fresh vegetable intake daily.
While fruit is great, eat 4 – 5 pieces of vegetables to every
piece of fruit to keep simple sugar intake down.
Make sure you’re getting enough protein with each meal…
Don’t skip Breakfast !
For snack food, use nuts instead of chips or candies.
Keep “white” foods (pastas, breads, rice, potatoes, corn,
cereals, etc…) to a MINIMUM or eliminate entirely !
Fatigue…
What are some smart dietary choices ? ? ?
When grocery shopping, keep to the outer perimeter
of the store… Stay away from going inside aisles
for food items !
Frozen foods are a distant 2nd choice over fresh, and
canned foods are basically void of nutrients…
Fatigue…
What lifestyle choices should I consider ? ? ?
Proper food choices are part of lifestyle choices that can
affect health to a great degree ! Getting the whole family
to change their diet over time will result in everyone being
healthier !
Regular activity/exercise is an important part of getting
healthy. As you begin to heal and regain energy, exercise
will help build stamina, improve metabolism, and build
endurance reserves. It will also help deal with stress.
Walking is a great way to start an exercise regimen.
Exercise also will stimulate and help maintain healthy bone
status !
Fatigue…
What lifestyle choices should I consider ? ? ?
Find ways that work for you to relieve stress…
Hobbies…Exercise…Meditation…Reading…
There are countless things you can do to help relieve
stress…
If work-related stresses really take a toll on you on a daily
basis, then you may want to consider changing your job or
company !
Nothing is more important to you and your family than your
health and well being !
Fatigue…
What lifestyle choices should I consider ? ? ?
What exercises are good ? ? ?
Any activity/exercise that you enjoy, that doesn’t cause
physical pain/harm and that you will do on a consistent
basis is good… Remember to take it slowly at first if you
have health conditions or haven’t exercised in a while. If
you’re over 40 or have a health condition, seek the
advice of your doctor before entering into an exercise
program…
Fatigue…
What nutritional supplements can help ? ? ?
There are a number of nutritional supplements and
herbs that can help regain energy, organ and gland
reserve, and improve stamina and endurance. The
Symptom Survey Questionnaire and your present
health conditions will help your healthcare
practitioner determine the best supplements and/or
herbs to help improve your health…
Fatigue…
What nutritional supplements can help ? ? ?
Drenamin is a supplement that works well for nearly
everyone with fatigue. 3 tablets 2X/day 60 days
Licorice High Grade 2.5ml. in the AM Caution :
do not use if hypertensive or on hypertension
medications !
Withania Complex 1 tablet AM and 1 tablet at noon
Use same caution as above with Licorice…
Fatigue…
What nutritional supplements can help ? ? ?
Rehmannia Complex 1 – 3 tablets daily for those
who are hypertensive and can’t take licorice…
Cataplex B or G 2 tablets 2 X/day with meals.
These products provide B-complex in whole-food
form. B-vitamins are important in energy
production. Your healthcare practitioner will
determine which of the two is best for you.
Fatigue…
Final Notes on Fatigue…
While everyone is different, you should begin to feel
the effects of improved energy within a 2-week
period… Some folks take longer. One important
thing to remember is that just because you’re
feeling more energetic, that doesn’t mean that you
can discontinue the supplements. It takes months
to recover organ/gland reserves…
Menopause…
What about Hormone Replacement Therapy
for these symptoms ? ? ?
HRT is normally recommended as the first medical
choice for menopause. Unfortunately, this doesn’t
take into consideration improving over-all health,
especially the health of the Adrenal Glands, which
play a major role in hormone health. This is
especially true in peri and post menopause…
Menopause…
Why the natural approach instead of HRT ?
Helping the body heal and allow it to do it’s job should be the
first and foremost position to take.
The use of HRT should be the last resort, not the first step…
This includes the use of Progesterone creams (HRT) ! ! !
In essence, it’s much better to improve over-all health than to
force symptom reduction through the use of drugs if at all
possible… The long-term outcome is so much better !
Menopause…
What about Wild Yam Creams or “natural”
progesterone for my symptoms ?
Wild Yam cannot be used topically. It doesn’t work.
If you are feeling relief from using it, there most
likely will be actual USP progesterone in it ! So,
you’re really getting HRT ! Wild Yam can be used
orally to help with menopausal symptoms…
Summarizing…
Now, we’ll review the steps to help you get
symptom relief and get back on the path to
optimal health and vitality !
1. Complete the Symptom Survey Questionnaire…
This will give you a good idea of your present
health and areas of focus to begin your total health
improvement and hormone health.
Summarizing…
2. Perform the salivary hormone tests…(optional)
While this step is not necessary, it is recommended
particularly if you have tried remedies and have had poor
results. It can help hone in on more targeted approaches
for faster results…
3. Begin using the recommended products for symptom relief,
while working on other areas of focus…
Working on your adrenal health and any other area needing
attention will help you gain the best results…
Summarizing…
4. Make the necessary dietary and lifestyle
changes…
Improving your diet and adding physical
activity/exercise can really help improve your over
all health and energy… I believe diet and activity
are at least ½ of the picture in getting to optimal
health and vitality !
Summarizing…
5. Work closely with your healthcare
practitioner…
Your healthcare practitioner can help you answer
questions and provide the holistic care you need
as you transition from your present state of
health to optimal health and vitality… Discuss
any changes to you health with them
immediately !
Thank You for your time !
Questions ? ? ?
Comments ? ? ?