Fat Loss 4 Idiots Opinion

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Natural Remedies for Menopause and Weight Loss

By Ricardo d Argence

For many women, menopause is a challenging time of transition from the reproductive years to the post-childbearing years. Menopause occurs when female hormones naturally decline, and a woman's body stops causing egg follicles to mature every month in preparation for pregnancy.

Sadly, menopause may be hard for certain females since it frequently produces unpleasant side effects. These can include hot flashes, insomnia, night sweats, mood swings, vaginal dryness, loss of interest in sex, and irritability. Weight gain can be another common, but unexpected, symptom of menopause.

Even women who don't change their eating and exercise habits during menopause may experience weight gain. This can be frustrating, prompting women to wonder what caused this sudden and unexpected weight gain. Weight gain can also be a result of hormonally triggered overeating. Another cause of weight gain is the natural metabolic slow-down that happens as people age. When a woman's metabolic rate slows during menopause, any extra calories ingested have a far greater effect than they did pre-menpausal.

Body fat and estrogen also have a unique complementary role. Body fat helps regulate the production of estrogen, the female hormone that declines dramatically in menopause. Sometimes, the body will fight to hold on to fat in an effort to stabilize estrogen levels. Hormones and body fat also interact with each other in complex was that affect weight gain through changes in appetite, digestion, and metabolism.

Not talking about prescription hormone therapy, thus increasing the risk of breast cancer and reproductive system cancers, there are some natural therapies for women to combat the increasing use of menopausal symptoms such as weight gain. Some of these remedies include black cohosh and sage, to regulate hot flashes; chasteberry, for moodiness and general hormonal imbalance; and evening primrose oil, widely used to relieve PMS during perimenopause and control moodiness in menopausal women.

Many women make the mistake of thinking that these remedies will prevent weight gain and other menopause symptoms on their own. The truth is, the best thing you can do to prevent or reverse weight gain in menopause is through healthy diet and exercise.

Regulating hormone balance naturally by eating a nutrient-dense, whole-foods diet is a far more effective approach than herbal remedies. While herbal remedies can help supplement a good diet and exercise plan, many women find that a healthy lifestyle will alleviate symptoms without the need to spend money on these supplements and herbal preparations.

It is important for a healthy diet to concentrate on ingesting healthy fats in moderation and not eating bad fats at all. Whole grains, fruits, and vegetables should form the bulk of the diet, supplemented by lean protein and dairy foods (or non-dairy foods that contain calcium). Keep away alcohol food, and spicy food, if you are caffeine aggravates symptoms of menopause, and of course, pass up fried and fatty foods, excess sugar, and junk.

If you drink 8 cups of water daily and work out for approximately a half hour as many times as possible weekly, then you will be making progress towards losing a lot of weight, even if you're going through menopause. As you adopt a healthy diet and exercise plan that keeps your hormone levels on an even pace, you will see that the symptoms of menopause will lessen. - 17269

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