Healthy Aging: Body, Mind & Spirit

The joys of menopause, and how to work around them

I remember back when I was very young (like in my 30′s!) and older women would try to explain to me what menopause was.   Much like before my period ever started, I simply did not believe them.   “No way!   That isn’t going to happen to me!”

When you stop and think about it, it’s really quite amazing what major changes our bodies go through over a lifetime.  No wonder we don’t believe it until it happens to us.

We may sit and wonder: “Could my body really change that much?   Would it turn on me after all of our happy years together?”   Now, at age 56, I can share with you, the short answer is YES!

Let me count the joys! Waking up in wet sheets or putting on a light shirt that suddenly feels like a wool coat.  Gaining weight by simply looking at fattening foods.  Mood swings that occasionally turn you into Attila the Hun, or suddenly feeling like someone just turned on a super heater right next to you.   Let us not forget the disturbing confusion and memory loss brought on by brain fog.   These days when I hear young women complaining about their difficulties in losing weight, I yell back at the television set, “Just wait!”

These are just a few of the symptoms that let you know that menopause has arrived.   But these changes don’t happen all at once.   They arrive gradually, until one day, usually in the middle of a very hot day in June you say, “OH, so this is what they were talking about!”

Now what?   I tried all of the alternative supplements popular at the time: black cohosh, red clover, etc., although I was limited by my allergy to soy products.   And then there were those specially compounded hormone creams!   Ask my husband about the time I got too much testosterone in my system.  I was suddenly transformed into one angry you-know-what!

But I have discovered some things that do work when it comes to menopause:

Exercise is a great help. Exercise helps with everything from anxiety and irritability to sleep and bone mass loss, not to mention the weight gain that most women experience during and after menopause.  Research suggests that active women experience fewer menopause symptoms those who remain sedentary.   Do you need any more reason to get moving?

Skip the caffeine and other stimulants. Research shows that caffeine can worsen symptoms of menopause, especially hot flashes, anxiety and bone loss.   At least limit yourself to cup of coffee in the morning, allowing your body time to flush out the caffeine before bedtime.

Skip spicy foods. Spices do all kinds of great thing for your body, including giving your metabolism a boost, but when you’re experiencing hot flashes, the last thing your body needs is more heat factor.   So avoid the habanero sauce for a while and learn not to burn!

Eat a healthy diet. Cut down on salt, sugar, starches and fats and fill up on lean protein, veggies and fruit.   Your body will thank you for it!

Check out natural supplements. The verdict is still out on most herbal remedies and supplements, but many women have experienced symptom relief with Femestra.  This natural menopause supplement contains rice bran oil which is commonly used in Japan to reduce symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, and loss of libido.   But Femestra™ does more than just relieve hot flashes and night sweats.   Femestra contains CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid), an oil that can help you burn stored body fat.   I’ll let you know about my own experiences with it soon!

A reality check on your “lifestyle choices”

30% of cancers in developed countries are related to issues of diet and nutrition

40% OF ALL CANCERS CAN BE PREVENTED

1 out of 8 women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime

There were two things I never enjoyed doing before I started losing weight: weighing myself, and seeing myself in pictures.

Those two “phenomenon” came together for me this week when I happened to see my “before” picture at Slimgenics. I was astounded and horrified to finally fully acknowledge how out of control I had become back in June, when I started my weight loss journey.   This showed me how our brains can fool us into thinking things are “not THAT bad” just yet.   Well, things were VERY BAD and no, I won’t be sharing that photo with ANYONE!

Since mid-June I have reduced my intake of starches and fats by 75%, replacing them with much more water, protein, vegetables and fruit.   I didn’t think I would ever become one of those food measurers but, you know, it works!   And I am SO WORTH IT!

I have also studied why and when I tend to overeat and have replaced those behavior patterns with journaling, counseling and problem solving instead of stuffing my feelings.

Remember, it is NEVER too late to begin showing genuine concern for yourself.

Caring for your health is a GREAT place to start!

Source for statistics: World Health Organization

Polio is back!

Polio is on the move again, spreading from Pakistan into western China.

Car fumes and heart attack

Did you know breathing in heavy car fumes can lead to a heart attack?

Heart attack risk is raised for about six hours post-exposure to heavy fumes, researchers found.

Learn more here!

Robotic legs for stroke patients!

Scientists in the Netherlands are using robotic legs to try to improve the movement of stroke patients.

Learn more here.

One in three people will be affected by cancer at some stage in their lifetime

Go learn more about all kinds of cancers over at the BBC!

Bad sleep and high blood pressure

Elderly men who spend little time in deep sleep could be at risk of developing high blood pressure, according to US scientists.

A study on 784 patients, in the journal Hypertension, showed those getting the least deep sleep were at 83% greater risk than those getting the most.

Read more here.

Mild brain damage linked to various signs of aging

Tiny clots in the brain may be the cause of some signs of old age such as stooped posture and restricted movement, say US scientists.

Researchers who examined the brains of 418 deceased patients found damaged blood vessels in 29%, which would not have been picked up by normal scans.   These higher levels of damage were linked to more limited movement.

The researchers said declining mobility should not be accepted as a normal part of aging.

Mild symptoms of Parkinson’s disease – such as slow movement, rigidity, tremors and posture – increase with age and are thought to affect up to half of people by the age of 85.

Read the whole article here.

New tuberculosis vaccine?

Injecting modified bacteria related to those which cause tuberculosis could protect against the lung disease, US scientists say.

Experiments on mice showed the injections could completely eliminate tuberculosis bacteria in some cases, Nature Medicine reports.

Learn more here!

What do dirt and cancer have to do with each other?

A bacterium found in soil is a showing promise as a way of delivering cancer drugs into tumors.

Spores of the Clostridium sporogenes bacterium can grow within tumors because there is no oxygen.

Go learn more!