How The Yoga Of Menopause Alternatives To Hormone Therapy

Susan Weed maintains: “Menopause is not a ‘pathology’, but a passage to power. Like puberty, menopause is a natural – and healthy – change. They see hot flashes as ‘power surges’ and menopause as an intense spiritual journey. Most treatments – including ERT, HRT, isoflavone, and progesterone creams – disrupt this process and can do severe damage to a woman’s health.” MENOPAUSE IS ENLIGHTENMENT The energy aspects of menopause are of special interest to me. As a long-time student of yoga, I was struck by the many similarities between menopausal symptoms and the well-known esoteric goal of “awakening of the Kundalini.” Though the ideas presented in this section may seem strange or difficult to comprehend, they contain powerful messages about menopause, which lie at the heart of the Wise Woman approach. Kundalini [is] the root [of] all spiritual experiences … Kundalini is a special kind of energy known in many cultures, including Tibetan, Indian, Sumerian, Chinese, Irish, Aztec, and Greek. Psychoanalyst Carl G Jung called Kundalini anima. Kundalini is usually represented as a serpent coiled at the base of the spine, but women’s mystery stories locate it in the uterus – or the area where the uterus was, if a hysterectomy has occurred. During both puberty and menopause, a woman’s Kundalini is difficult to control and may cause a great number of symptoms. East Indian yogis spend lifetimes learning to activate, or wake up, their Kundalini. This is also called “achieving enlightenment”. As Kundalini continues to travel up the spine, it changes the functioning of the endocrine, cardiovascular, and nervous systems. Hot flashes are Kundalini training sessions. TAKING HORMONES? THESE HERBS ARE FOR YOU More and more American women are using herbal remedies to help them with menopausal problems. Herbs for women on ERT/HRT include those that alleviate side effects as well as those that counter problems caused by the hormones. Herbal Helpers Counter Side Effects Water retention is the symptom most often cited for dissatisfaction with hormone replacement. Dandelion root tincture (Taraxacum officinale) strengthens the liver and helps it process out the excess hormones you are taking. Cleavers herb tincture (Gallium molluga) tells the lymphatic tissues to get moving. Cleavers are especially helpful for easing swollen, sore breasts. Foods that relieve water retention include (in order of effectiveness): asparagus, nettles, corn (and corn silk tea), grapes, cucumbers, watermelon (and watermelon seed tea), parsley, celery, black tea, and green tea. Headaches are the second most common side effect of hormone use. Herbs that help relieve headache without a drug-like action – such as dandelion, yellow dock, milk thistle, burdock, garden sage, skullcap, and St. John’s/Joan’s wort – are generally considered safe to take with hormones. A strong tea of garden sage leaves (Salvia officinalis) offers immediate relief from headaches and helps prevent future ones. Tinctures of skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) and St. Joan’s/John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) ease pain and relieve muscle spasms. Use 5-20 drops of skullcap and a dropper of St. J’s at the very first sign – no, the very first thought – of a headache. Herbal Allies to Prevent Problems Caused by Taking Hormones, breast cancer risk is increased 20% in women who use ERT for five or more years. Red clover blossoms (Trifolium pratense), when dried and brewed into a strong infusion (one ounce of herb steeped an, a quart of boiling water for at least four hours) prevent cancer by providing phytoestrogens that counter the cancer-promoting effects of oral hormones. Since uncooked beans and unfermented soy contain anti-nutritional factors that may promote bone loss and dementia, soy “milk” and tofu are not recommended. Miso and tamari definitely help to prevent breast cancer, but soy isoflavones may promote it. Women who eat a quart of yogurt a week have 700% less cancer than women who eat no yogurt. Dry eyes afflict more than 9% of women using ERT and over 7% of those on HRT. Risk increases by 70% for every year of continued use. Every major double-blind study done to date has created a larger and larger gap between ERT/HRT’s supposed ability to help cardiovascular health and its actual results. It’s an all-in-one remedy for menopausal women. Anything that reduces the amount of estradiol a woman produces (such as pregnancy, lactation, early menopause, and late puberty) also decreases her risk of a breast cancer diagnosis. Phytoestrogens counter the detrimental effects of estradiol by competing for the same receptor sites. The exceptions to the rule that plants don’t contain human hormones: French beans, rice, apple seeds, licorice, and pomegranate seeds contain the “weak” estrogen estrone. To get the greatest benefit from phytoestrogen foods and herbs, remember: 1. Isolated phytoestrogens are not as safe as those “in matrix”. Herbs and foods rich in phytoestrogens need to be used in different ways. Phytoestrogens may have different effects on women who do not have their ovaries. Plants contain many types of phytoestrogens; additionally, they contain minerals and other constituents which help our bodies modify the phytoestrogens, and so we can use them safely. It is the world’s best-known anti-cancer herb. Plant hormones, including most phytoestrogens, can’t be used by humans. But we can convert them into ones we can use – with the help of our gut bacteria. Plants which are exceptionally rich in phytoestrogens are regarded as powerful herbal medicines. Plants which are good sources of phytoestrogens are regarded as foods. While food can certainly be our medicine – a practice I advocate – it is also true that medicines are more dangerous than foods. Foods rich in phytoestrogens are different than medicinal herbs rich in phytoestrogens. They have different places in my life. I eat phytoestrogen foods daily in quantity. I use phytoestrogen food-like herbs regularly (not daily), in moderate quantity. I take phytoestrogen herbs rarely, in small amounts, for a limited time. Phytoestrogen foods are the basis for a healthy diet and a long life. The first food listed is the highest in phytoestrogens. The best diet contains not just one but many choices from each list: Whole grains (rye, oats, barley, millet, rice, wheat, corn) Edible seeds (buckwheat, sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, amaranth, quinoa) Beans (yellow split peas, black turtle beans, baby limas, Anasazi beans, red kidney beans, red lentils, soy beans) Leafy greens and seaweed (parsley, nettle, kelp, cabbage, broccoli, kale, collards, lamb’s quarter) Fruits (olives, cherries, grapes, apples, pears, peaches, plums, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, salmon berries, apricots, crab apples, quinces, rose hips, blueberries) Olive oil and seed oils. Garlic, onions and their relatives leeks, chives, scallions, ramps, shallot Phytoestrogen food-like herbs are generally considered longevity tonics. For optimum effect, use only one from the list below and to stick with it for at least three months. Citrus peel, dandelion leaves and/or roots, fenugreek seeds, flax seeds, green tea, hops, red clover, red wine. Phytoestrogen herbs are usually too powerful for long - term use. From the list below (which is in alphabetical order), it is safest to use only one herb at a time, and use it only when needed, although that may mean daily use for several months. More information about these herbs, including specific dosages and cautions, is in New Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way. Agave root, black cohosh root, black currant, black haw, chaste berries, cramp bark, dong quai root, devil’s club root, false unicorn root, ginseng root, groundsel herb, licorice, life root herb, mother wort herb, peony root, raspberry leaves, rose family plants (most parts), sage leaves, sarsaparilla root, saw palmetto berried, wild yam root, yarrow blossoms. Most of the warnings about phytoestrogen herbs center on their proven ability to thicken the uterine wall in animals who have had their ovaries removed. This could encourage cancer, just as taking ERT encourages cancer of the uterus by stimulating cell growth. Women without ovaries are probably safe eating phytoestrogen foods, but may want to use phytoestrogen herbs – especially ginseng, dong quai, licorice, red clover, and wild yam – in small amounts and only for short periods. NEWS NOTES ON PHYTOESTROGEN PLANTS Recent studies indicate black cohosh does not suppress luteinizing hormone, has no estrogenic effect, and contains no compounds related to estrogen. Red clover flower heads contain many hormone-like flavonoids, including isoflavone, daidzein, genistein, formononetin, biochanin, sitosterol, and coumestrol, a particularly strong phytoestrogen (six times more active than the one in soy). Red clover contains all four major estrogenic isoflavones; soy has only two of them. A cup of red clover infusion (not tea) contains ten times more phytoestrogens than a cup of soy beverage, is richer in calcium, has fewer calories, and contains no added sugars. Researchers in Australia report a million lambs a year are aborted after sheep eat clover on pasture. Yet, red clover is renowned as a fertility enhancer. What’s up? Stephen Buhner, author of The Secret Language of Plants, says clover plants make blood-thinning compounds (which cause abortion) when overgrazed, but don’t otherwise. Plants, it turns out, can fight back. When unfermented soy takes the place of animal protein (meat and milk), its anti-nutritional factors can create brittle bones, thyroid problems, memory loss, vision impairment, irregular heartbeat, depression, and vulnerability to infections. It is also impressively rich in aluminum (up to 100 times more than is found in the same amount of real milk). Eating tofu more than once a week doubled the risk of Alzheimer’s in a small group of Japanese men studied for thirty years. Human gut bacteria can cleave a sugar molecule from wild yam’s steroidal saponin, producing diosgenin. Labs make progesterone from diosgenin, but our bodies can’t. According to Australian herbalist Ruth Trickey: “A more probable explanation [for the observed effects of wild yam] … is that [diosgenin] interacts with hypothalamic and pituitary hormones and … initiates ovulation.” Susan Weed PO Box 64 Woodstock, NY 12498 Fax: 1-845-246-8081