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Ayurveda
Menopause
and
Natural
Hormone Replacement Therapy
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.
– Nancy Lonsdorf M.D
April 19, 2003
Dr. Lonsdorf received her M.D.
from Johns Hopkins and did her postgraduate study at Stanford University.
She has also studied with many of the most renowned Ayurvedic physicians
from India and has used Ayurveda in her practice for 17 years. For more
information on the Ayurvedic approach to women's health go to Dr.
Lonsdorf's web site at
ayurveda-ayurvedic.com.
Disclaimer:
Information provided in this article is for the sole purpose of imparting education on
Ayurveda and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. If you have a medical condition, please consult your physician.
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