Menopause: It's About Balance
The medical community is quickly
evolving its understanding of menopause. Following the abrupt,
early halt to the HRT portion of the Women's Health Initiative
last July, due to findings that Hormone Replacement Therapy's
risks outweighed its benefits, headlines now read "Menopause is
not a disease, but a normal part of life." Hormone "replacement"
therapy (HRT) has become simply hormone "therapy" (HT) in
recognition of the fact that replacing estrogen is not natural
and brings dangerous side-effects, rather than the fountain of
youth once touted.
Shocking and novel as these concepts may be to today's medical
community, they are nothing new to Maharishi Ayurveda, a
consciousness-based natural medical system from ancient India.
For over 5000 years, Ayurveda has acknowledged menopause as a
natural transition, not a mistake of Mother Nature's that
requires hormone replacement therapy. Maharishi Ayurveda
reassures us that menopause can be health-promoting,
spiritually-transforming and free of troublesome symptoms.
Experts today are affirming this positive view of menopause,
stating that it is not natural to get weak bones, heart disease
and rapid aging after menopause. Rather, osteoporosis, heart
disease and other chronic health problems develop over a
lifetime, resulting largely from poor diet, stress and lack of
physical exercise. And hormone replacement therapy (HRT,) once
heavily promoted as the medical solution to these problems, is
no longer recommended for their treatment or prevention.
Menopause: A "Balance Deficiency"
What is recommended for the
prevention of major health problems after menopause is a healthy
lifestyle. And, according to Ayurveda, healthy living is also
the best way to ease symptoms of the menopause transition
itself. How balanced, or overall healthy you and your lifestyle
are when you reach menopause largely determines how smooth your
transition will be. If you are "burning the candle at both ends"
in your 30's and early 40's, you are more likely to have mood
swings, sleep problems and troublesome hot flashes when your
hormones start to change. Whereas if you are have healthy
lifestyle habits and are managing your stress effectively, you
are likely to breeze through menopause without any major
problems.
Health problems at menopause represent imbalances in the body
that were already growing in the body and are unmasked by the
stress of shifting hormones. Menopause symptoms are Nature's
wake-up call to let you know you need to start paying more
attention to your health. Age forty-five to fifty-five is a
critical decade, according to Ayurveda. It provides the
foundation on which your later health is laid. Just like putting
money in your IRA, timely investing in your health can
dramatically increase your "yield" of healthy years at midlife
and beyond. Particularly if you have not been taking care of
yourself in your 30's and 40's, making lifestyle changes now is
critical to ensuring that you age gracefully without the burden
of chronic health problems.
What You Can Do Now to Get "In Balance"
While eating a healthy
diet and getting enough exercise provides the foundation of good
health for everyone, each woman's menopause experience is
unique. Symptoms vary from woman to woman. Knowing precisely how
your body is out of balance can guide you in selecting the key
lifestyle changes you should make to relieve your symptoms.
Ayurveda describes that the type of symptoms you have depends
upon which bodily principle or dosha is "out of balance" in your
mind/body system.
There are three bodily principles: movement and flow (vata or
airy), heat and metabolism (pitta or firey), and bodily
substance (kapha or earthy.) And there are three basic types of
imbalances relating to each of the three doshas. Easing your
menopause transition can be as simple as "reading" your dosha
symptoms and taking measures to get your doshas back in balance.
The following symptoms and lifestyle prescriptions are indicated
for each of the three dosha imbalances:
V-Type - Prone To Nervousness: anxiety, panic, mood swings,
vaginal dryness, loss of skin tone, feeling cold, irregular
periods, insomnia, mild or variable hot flashes, constipation,
palpitations, bloating and joints aches and pains.
Ayurvedic Tips: Increase warm food and drinks, regular meals,
early bedtime, oil massage, meditation, yoga, walking and spices
such as fennel and cumin. Decrease caffeine and other
stimulants, refined sugar, cold drinks, salads.
P-Type - Prone to Hot Temper: anger, irritability, feeling hot,
hot flashes, night sweats, heavy periods, excessive bleeding,
urinary tract infections, skin rashes and acne.
Ayurvedic Tips: Increase cooling foods, water intake, sweet
juicy fruits (grapes, pears, plums, mango, melons, apples,)
zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber, organic foods. Go to bed
before 10 PM and try to wind down earlier in the evening.
Decrease excessive sun and overheating, hot spicy foods, hot
drinks and alcohol.
K-Type - Prone to Weight Gain: sluggishness, lethargy, weight
gain for no reason, fluid retention, yeast infections, lazy,
depressed, lacking motivation, slow digestion.
Ayurvedic Tips: Increase exercise, fruits, whole grains,
legumes, vegetables, spices such as black pepper, turmeric and
ginger. Get up early (by 6AM). Decrease meat, cheese, sugar,
cold foods and drinks.
Your Hormonal "Backup System"
Ayurveda describes that your
hormonal changes at menopause will be smooth and easy if three
factors are in place.
- Your mind/body system (consisting of three doshas) is in
"balance."
- Your diet is wholesome and rich in phytoestrogens.
- Your body is "clean" and uncluttered inside so your hormones
and body can "talk" effectively.
Did you know that your ovaries and adrenal glands continue to
produce estrogens and "pre-estrogens" after menopause, providing
your body with its own hormonal backup system? Ayurveda
describes that this hormonal production after menopause will be
optimal if your mind and body are "in balance," providing just
the right amount of estrogen to prevent hot flashes and keep
your bones, skin, brain, colon and arteries healthy without
increasing the risk of breast or uterine cancer.
Balancing your doshas, as discussed above, is the first approach
to ensuring optimal hormone production after menopause, but
Ayurvedic herbs can also help. Indian asparagus root (shatavari;
asparagus racemosus), thick-leaved lavender (chorak; angelica
glauca- related to the Chinese female tonic Dong Quai,) licorice
root, sandalwood, pearl, red coral, rose and others are used by
skilled practitioners in balanced, synergistic combinations to
help relieve hot flashes, libido problems, irritability, mood
swings and other menopausal symptoms.
Hormonal Help from Plants--It's Not Just Soy!
Diet also plays a
key role in balancing hormones during and after menopause. It is
well known that Japanese women rarely experience hot flashes,
probably because their diet contains large amounts of soy, a
food rich in certain plant estrogens called "isoflavones." Soy
products are not the only source of plant estrogens, however.
Another equally healthful source of phytoestrogens are
"lignans," compounds found in a variety of whole foods including
grains and cereals, dried beans and lentils, flaxseed, sunflower
seeds and peanuts, vegetables such as asparagus, sweet potatoes,
carrots, garlic and broccoli and fruits such as pears, plums and
strawberries. Common herbs and spices such as thyme oregano,
nutmeg, turmeric and licorice also have estrogenic properties.
It turns out that if you simply eat a varied diet high in
fruits, vegetables, whole grains and dried beans you will be
ingesting a rich phytoestrogen feast in your daily cuisine!
Variety and moderation are important because just as too much
estrogen is unhealthy after menopause, too much phytoestrogen
may also be dangerous. This danger can be avoided by getting
your phytoestrogens naturally from a variety of whole foods,
rather than from supplements or concentrated tablets.
When You Can't Stop Flashing, Get The "Lead" Out!
More serious symptoms, such as frequent hot flashes, continual
sleep disturbance, and moderate to severe mood swings, are signs
of deeper imbalances that, if left untreated, will persist to
set the stage for later disease. For these more troublesome
symptoms to manifest, the tissues of your body - your bones,
muscles, fat, organs, skin, and blood - must be disturbed in some
way. Ayurveda describes that stubborn symptoms are usually due
to the buildup of wastes and toxins, referred to as "ama," in
your body's tissues.
For example, hot flashes that won't go away despite herbs, diet,
exercise, and perhaps even HRT usually represent a problem with
ama. One of my Ayurvedic mentors explained it this way: When
your body's channels are clogged with wastes, the heat from
metabolism builds up in your tissues. Hot flashes result from
sudden surges in blood flow as the body tries to clear the
channels and dissipate the heat buildup quickly. A similar
phenomenon occurs when you have a heater set on high in an
overheated room with all the windows and doors closed. To cool
down the room, first you must turn down the heater (see Tips for
P-Type above) but you also need to throw open the windows and
doors (as in removing the ama) so the heat can flow out.
We can understand this analogy medically in terms of hormone
receptors. No matter how much estrogen or phytoestrogen you have
floating through your bloodstream, it does you no good unless it
connects with your body's estrogen receptors, the tiny
"keyholes" on your cells. Estrogen and phytoestrogens fit these
keyholes like minuscule keys and through them gain entry into
your cells. When the receptors are clogged with debris or "ama,"
your hormones cannot get into your cells to do their work. Then
bothersome menopause symptoms may persist despite a variety of
attempted therapies.
In this case, a traditional Ayurvedic detoxification program
referred to as Maharishi Rejuvenation Therapy (MRT), or
"panchakarma," may be needed to clear the body's channels and
gain relief. This internal cleansing approach is also the
treatment of choice for more serious problems such as
osteoporosis and high cholesterol. A study published in a recent
issue of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine confirmed
that this ancient technology of herbalized oil massage, heat
treatments and mild internal cleansing therapies does indeed
reduce toxins in the body. Hormone disrupting PCB's and
pesticides such as DDT were reduced by approximately 50% after
just 5 days of treatment. Other studies have shown overall
reduction in health symptoms, a rise in "good cholesterol," and
reduction in free radicals from MRT.
In my clinical experience, MRT can be very transforming,
eliminating symptoms while at the same time dramatically
reducing stress and fatigue. After a week of treatment, my
patients not only report feeling much better, they radiate
health and youthfulness and many experience a profound sense of
well-being and inner peace.
It's Not Too Late
The important point to remember at midlife is
that health problems don’t pop out of nowhere when your estrogen
levels start to fluctuate and fall off. Rather it is the
cumulative effects of damaging lifestyle habits--late nights,
fast food, eating on the run, lots of stress, too little
exercise--over decades that set in motion chronic disease and
aging well before menopause. Your symptoms are simply telling
you just how out of balance you are. The good news is that with
a few basic lifestyle changes, and the healing power of
Maharishi Ayurveda when needed, underlying imbalances can be
resolved, paving the way for a smooth menopause transition and
great health in the years to come.
About the Author
Nancy Lonsdorf M.D. received her M.D. from Johns Hopkins and did
her postgraduate training at Stanford. Dr. Lonsdorf has 17 years
of clinical experience with Ayurveda and is the author of two
books on Ayurveda and women's health. Visit her website at www.ayurveda-ayurvedic.com.
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