The Dr. Josh Axe Show - How to Manage Menopause Symptoms & Balance Hormones Naturally

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey everyone, I'm Dr. Axe, and today on the show I'll be diving into something that every single woman experiences at some point in their life. Yet, it's often treated as something to be endured rather than to be honored. And today I'll be going through the ideal diet, herbs, and lifestyle medicine choices that women need to flourish through menopause. Welcome to the Dr. Josh Axe show. More than 90% of postmenopausal women were never taught about menopause at school, and over six, 60% only started looking for information about it once their symptoms started, according to the University College of London Women's Health. And menopause is something so many women have questions about. And today I'm going to give you the answers on how to naturally flourish through menopause, how to get rid of all your menopausal symptoms, and how to feel and look younger.

Starting point is 00:01:09 Now, typically, menopause occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, with the average being around 51. And perimenopause, which is the transition phase, can start as early as the late 30s and last between two and eight years with the average being four years. And hot flashes, night sweats are two of the most common symptoms. And those can last seven years on average. And while menopause is natural, the symptoms don't have to be overwhelming or overwhelming. debilitating and women all over the world experience menopause differently. For instance, in Japan, symptoms like hot flashes are less common. In fact, listen to this, less than one and four women, so less than 25 percent of women in Japan, have no hot flashes, potentially due to their

Starting point is 00:01:58 healthier lifestyles, diets, and they have a very different cultural approach and mindset around menopause. And oftentimes, menopause in the Western world is seen as a time of decline, but it can also be a period of empowerment when it's managed well. A study published in The Lancet, one of the most prestigious medical journals in the world, advocates for an empowerment model with the right support and resources. Women can view this transition as an opportunity for growth, for more wisdom, and for the next phase of being the most impactful they've ever been in their life. Here's a quote from Michelle Woolhouse.

Starting point is 00:02:33 She's an integrative medical professional medical doctor. She says this, Menopause is a time when a woman transforms from the fertile years into the wisdom years. The menopause transition is one of the most powerful experiences in a woman's life, a time for reverence and respect for her body, her fertility, and her intuition and wisdom. In Chinese medicine, menopause is referred to as the second spring. Spring is all about growth, vitality, expansion, and abundance. And so I'm going to walk you through the biggest symptoms of menopause, some things you can do for every single one of those symptoms.

Starting point is 00:03:13 Then we're going to get into the science. And then I'm going to go through the diet, the herbs, the supplements, and some of the lifestyle things you can do to look younger, to feel younger, and to really get rid of any of these negative menopausal symptoms and really just feel more mentally strong, empowered, and youthful as you go through menopause and postmenopause. So the single most common symptom that women have when they're going through menopause is, that's right, you said it, hot flashes. So these are sudden waves of heat often accompanied by sweating and flush skin. And it affects over 80% of menopausal women. It can occur a day or night. It's caused by fluctuations in estrogen levels that affect the hypothalamus,

Starting point is 00:03:57 the part of the brain that regulates body temperature. Now, when you're going through a hot flash, again, remember, It's connected to estrogen fluctuations. Now, here's what happens. When estrogen gets too low, the body has a harder time producing enough fluids, so moisture, and its ability to cool itself. So think about that. That's why you get so hot.

Starting point is 00:04:22 Why is your body so hot? Your body is having a difficult time regulating your body temperature, and it's having a difficult time moisten itself. So your body starts sweating to try and moisten itself. A lot of it goes external. So one of the things you can do if you're having hot flashes, it's incredibly effective, is take an herb called black cohosh. Because what that does is that helps raise up and get your estrogen levels to the more ideal level.

Starting point is 00:04:49 And that then is going to reduce some of those hot flash symptoms. In addition, doing more things that are going to cool and moisten your body, which I'll get into the ideal diet and foods for menopause in just a few moments. Number two, night sweats. intense sweating during sleep. This causes sleep disturbances and typically fatigue the next day. And this also is connected to these fluctuations in estrogen levels. And this is where black cohosh is also an amazing herb for this. In addition, something you can do is an herb called Vitex, which helps with balancing some

Starting point is 00:05:25 of those night sweats as well. Number three are mood swings. This is irritability, anxiety, depressive episodes, common during menopause. They affect more than 55% of women. And this results mostly from a decrease in estrogen. So remember your estrogen levels are doing this, but the bigger thing is it's decreasing. And this also affects serotonin levels in the brain, which can lead to mood changes and emotional stability issues to where you're lashing out or you're depressed and you're sort of going back and forth and you feel like your emotions are a total roller coaster. And something you can do to help

Starting point is 00:06:03 this is take an omega-3 fatty acid supplement like fish oil, 1,000 to 2,000 milligrams a day, or just up your intake of omega-3 rich foods, especially wild-caught salmon and wild tuna. Those two in particular are higher in omega-3s and other nutrients. Actually, tuna also has something that supports your sleep cycles and tryptophan and other nutrients that are good there as well. The next tier, that so many women struggle with as they go through menopause is sleep disturbances and daytime fatigue. More than 85% of women that are perimenopausal and menopausal say they are fatigued.

Starting point is 00:06:40 Typically, one of the most common reasons is they struggle with insomnia. And that's frequently waking up, which is leaving women the next day just feeling exhausted. You're not getting that deep sleep, your body's not being restored. And it's gonna leave you tired. And this is caused by, again,

Starting point is 00:06:55 what we've talked about, hormonal imbalances, but more importantly, than estrogen, it has to do with progesterone. So what happens in menopause is your estrogen drops and your progesterone drops, okay? And progesterone as a hormone has a calming effect on the brain, on the body, it aids in sleep. And poor sleep, we know, affects your mood. It affects your cognitive function. This is why some women that are going through menopause complain of brain fog and short-term memory issues

Starting point is 00:07:26 And something you can do for the sleep disturbances is take a magnesium glycinate or a magnesium three and eight or a spryelina bound or a food-based magnesium supplement. So taking the right type of magnesium can help you with these symptoms. And I typically recommend around 400 or so milligrams before you go to sleep at night, okay, helping you get better sleep of doing that sort of magnesium. And there's other things you can do in the evening as well. a more floral tea like a Roman camomile or a general camomile can be good as well at night, coupled with that magnesium. And here's some statistics here when it comes to sleep deprivation of some things you want to be aware of.

Starting point is 00:08:06 Sleep deprivation also increases your food cravings, which then often results in weight gain. If you're not sleeping well, you're going to feel like eating more because it throws off these other hormones in the body. So what happens is when progesterone drops and then your sleep drops, that affects melatonis. which then that affects hormones called ghrelin and leptin. And those are known as your fat-burning hormones and your hunger hormones. So you're left feeling like you just, you want to eat more. So you find yourself snacking, like wanting to eat a whole bag of potato chips or way more bread

Starting point is 00:08:39 than you typically would want to or more sugar because of it. So this is why women gain weight during menopause is due to these hormonal imbalances that then lead to these cravings. But it typically is from the sleep deprivation. But if you can take magnesium, if you can do some floral teas like chamomile, you could also try CBD oil is another good option. But anything you can do to improve your sleep is going to be helpful. The fifth most common symptom women struggle with as they go through menopause is vaginal dryness and reduced libido. Decreased estrogen can cause thinning of the vaginal lining and cause you to have less lubrication leading to discomfort or pain during intimacy.

Starting point is 00:09:20 lower estrogen levels can also decrease libido, especially when sex is painful. And decreased estrogen can also weaken the pelvic muscles leading to bladder control issues. And vaginal dryness is experienced by nearly 50% of menopausal women more than two times higher than premenopausal women out there today. And so when we're talking about vaginaldriness, one of the best natural remedies is to do a vitamin E suppository. So again, a vitamin E suppository. So again, vitamin E suppository is a great thing to do to directly impact the symptoms. Now, in addition internally, and what I talked about earlier, and I will touch on again when I get into the diet component, but we need to increase moisture in your body.

Starting point is 00:10:06 So what's happening when you go through menopause is your body is unable to produce enough moisture because your estrogen and progesterone levels drop. That's why if we can dieterally and lifestyle do things to start increasing up the estrogen and progesterone and also give your body more of the foods that start to create more moisture, these symptoms will reduce greatly. And it's really the same thing that's causing most of the symptoms in menopause, whether it be hot flashes or night sweats or vaginal dryness or reduced libido. All of these things are your body now isn't creating enough moisture due to the drop in progesterone and estrogen. And there are some natural things you can do. And one of the

Starting point is 00:10:47 things that women tend to run to first is hormone replacement therapy. But I don't believe that that is the best first place to jump to. And here's why. According to ancient medicine, if you look at Chinese medicine, if you look at Ierva, and I think there are certain studies that prove this that when you take hormone replacement therapy, you're doing something exogenously rather than affecting the body directly internally and supporting it on producing its own. So your body naturally produces progesterone. and estrogen on its own, okay, via your ovaries, via your uterus, via some other hormones

Starting point is 00:11:23 that contribute there as well, it's producing these hormones. Now, when you take exogenous estrogen and progesterone that's synthetic, your body has an internal tap of water or estrogen and progesterine that's flowing, what happens is when you take

Starting point is 00:11:39 those exogenously, you turn off your own internal tap. Okay, you turn it off. And when you turn it off, your body starts relying only on what's happening on the exterior, okay? And in Chinese medicine, they believe that when you turn off your own internal tap of estrogen and progesterone, you increase your likelihood of certain types of cancer, okay? And by the way, there are certain studies that show there is an increase an ovarian and

Starting point is 00:12:08 uterine in different types of cancer in women who get on hormone replacement therapy. Now, I also want to say there have been a, there was a large, very large, meta analysis done on hormone replacement therapy showing that the increased risk of cancer is lower than we once thought. Okay. So it wasn't significant. It was there, but it wasn't as significant as we once thought, but it's still there. And what I found is women are healthier and better if the first thing they focus on is having their own body produce more of it on its own. And there are ways to do that. And that's what I'm going to go through today when we get into diet and supplementation and a number of things is that you can take your tap that might only be dripping,

Starting point is 00:12:55 okay, you want something at least, and actually turn it more on where your body now starts producing more estrogen progesterone, where you don't have the menopausal symptoms and you don't have to rely on a hormone replacement therapy, which is going to have side effects. In Chinese medicine, they call it stagnation because now things are moving less internally in your body. So listen, you cannot take something synthetic on the outside and have some sort of side effects. Now, sometimes, listen, I believe that there is a time and a place where if a woman has gone and said, okay, I'm going to try, I'm doing the herbs, I'm doing the diet, I've managed my stress, and I've tried those things naturally. And it's still, and it's still really affecting my

Starting point is 00:13:33 sleep in a big negative way, then I think there's a time and a place for hormone replacement therapy. So I want you to understand, I'm not saying there's never a time in a place and we should never do hormone replacement therapy, there is a time and a place, but it shouldn't be the first thing you jump to. Again, what most women do today is the first thing they do is jump and run to a medication. It's the first thing they do. And we know that that is going to treat the symptom and maybe even improve that one area of health, but we know it's going to deplete other nutrients.

Starting point is 00:14:01 We know it's going to cause another side effect in the body. And well, hormone replacement therapy is one step more natural than that. It's still not natural. And there are other things you can do to improve these symptoms. So again, if you have tried and exhausted every, and by the way, I believe the same thing about diabetes. Think about it. That's a hormone-based condition. If somebody is type 2 diabetes and they come into my practice, every time if they follow my specific

Starting point is 00:14:25 advice, they're able to reverse their diabetes. Let me say 99% of the time. We've been able to reverse type 2 diabetes. Why? Because we're just rebalancing insulin. How do we do that? Their diet is mostly protein, fiber, some healthy fat, very specific nutrients like, chromium and magnesium and certain things that really balance insulin and hormone levels come back

Starting point is 00:14:47 into balance that happens now if i worked with somebody for two years and we still weren't able to get those insulin levels right then there's a time to get on insulin or get on metformin or get on medication but the reality is in almost every case if you're able to do the things that are more natural you can reverse it you can get your body into ideal balance and it's typically not needed or at the very least, you want to push it off as far into the future as you can. So again, with vaginal dryness, remember vitamin E suppository, in addition following a moisture-boosening diet. And some of the best foods for this in particular are going to be foods that support progesterone

Starting point is 00:15:26 like chickpeas, pumpkin seeds or pumpkin nut butter, or pumpkin seed butter, wildcat fish like tuna and salmon yogurt. these are some of the things that will most help. All right, number six symptom that most women struggle with as they go through menopause is weight gain. About 70% of women gain weight during menopause. And it's really hormonal weight gain, okay? These hormonal changes including reduced estrogen, reduced progesterone, and increased cortisol, slow women's metabolism leading to susceptibility to weight gain, especially around the abdomen and the best,

Starting point is 00:16:03 and actually sometimes it's called menopause belly. Okay, women will start to say, well, I'm. starting to get this, you know, this extra weight gain right on your midsection. And the best thing to do for that is going to be weight training. Okay, weight training is the best thing you can do. Okay. And it doesn't have to be every day, but it could be three days a week for 30 minutes, but doing some weights is going to be able to help that, along with just more movement, more walking, a little bit more cardio, but more movement and exercise will help. During menopause, women typically experience an average of about one to two pounds per year of weight gain.

Starting point is 00:16:40 And this can accumulate to a total body weight of around an extra five to 10 pounds over the course of menopause transition. And a higher body fat equates to more sleep problems, more depression, more anxiety, more joint pain, more urinary issues, more heart disease, and just generally aging more quickly. So you really want to do everything you can to combat that. That's why weight training and exercise are your biggest tool against that. Number seven, bone density loss. Reduce estrogen negatively impacts calcium absorption and bone remodeling.

Starting point is 00:17:16 So less estrogen increases the risk of bone density loss such as osteopenia or osteoporosis. And what you can do for that, and by the way, this also puts women at risk for things like fractures. Okay. And so we want to do everything we can to combat that. This is where taking a supplement or eating foods. that help build bone density. In ancient medicine, they knew that celery was one of the best. Imagine they would say if a food looks like an organ that supports that organ,

Starting point is 00:17:43 hold up a stalk of celery next to your arm or look at one. It looks almost like a bone, right? And so celery is one of the most electrolyte rich and alkaline foods that keeps your body from losing minerals. So eating more celery is great, doing steamed green. leafy vegetables like steamed spinach that also is going to help with bone density doing raw cheese that's great for bone density and if you want to take a supplement here's the thing i want to tell you never ever take an isolated calcium supplement because that can increase your risk of heart disease if it's not absorbed well so what you want to do if you're going through estrogen

Starting point is 00:18:24 through through menopause for supporting bone density you want to take a supplement that's food based that has magnesium, vitamin D, vitamin K2, and potentially calcium in there. And if it has those things, your body's better going to absorb calcium. Because for your body to absorb calcium, it needs vitamin K, and it needs D, and it needs magnesium in order to do that. So if you increase your intake of those foods, if you weight, train, and walk more like we talked about, then intake that supplement, that's going to pretty much reduce your risk of the bone density loss.

Starting point is 00:19:03 Number eight is cardiovascular issues. This is where I think increasing your intake of omega-3 rich foods. We talked about taking a fish oil supplement, eating more salmon, doing more tuna. Also, doing more pomegranate is very good for cardiovascular issues. So again, doing pomegranate juice and eating pomegranates is a great thing to do as well. You know, lower estrogen increases your risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease, which is the number one cause of death in postmenopausal women is heart disease. So this is where doing more pomegranates, more omega-3 fatty acids, like flaxseed oil and walnuts is going to help as well.

Starting point is 00:19:39 Number nine, symptom of menopause is cognitive decline. These fluctuating hormones affect brain function and memory. In fact, more than 30% of women struggle with memory and brain fog as they go through menopause. And this is where doing the omega-3 fats we talked about. In addition, Lions main mushroom and ginko biloba are very effective at bringing that blood flow to the brain. and helping improve those symptoms. And number 10 is joint pain and muscular weakness in pain. And this is where doing turmeric ginger tea.

Starting point is 00:20:11 You can buy those two together on Amazon.com. Just buy turmeric ginger tea. Drinking that throughout the day is amazing in how it benefits, decreasing pain in your joints and throughout your entire body. So as we discuss, there are so many symptoms that affect women in menopause. But if you have the right strategy as you go through menopause with diet, and herbs and lifestyle changes, you're going to fly through them,

Starting point is 00:20:36 and I'm going to dive into those things here as well. Hey, have you ever felt like you're playing whackamol with your symptoms? You fix one thing and another one pops up. Well, if that's you, you're not alone. You might try a new supplement, a new diet, a new prescription, and you think, okay, I'm good now, but then something else is wrong, or that original thing just never fully heals.

Starting point is 00:20:56 And the reason why those things aren't working is you're treating only the things you can see and not what's actually underneath. the surface. Because the real root of your fatigue, your brain fog, your gut, and your hormone issues, it's happening at a cellular level. And normal blood work does not test for what's going on inside your cell. Your doctor might say, hey, you're doing everything right, great job, but you don't feel great. Because if your cells are damaged, inflamed, or stuck in stress mode, no symptom relief is going to last. Stop chasing symptoms and start solving the source of all of your

Starting point is 00:21:31 problems. Go to beyondbloodwork.com to finally see what's happening inside of yourselves and make all your efforts actually work starting today. This is something I've had thousands of patients do and experience a breakthrough by finally getting to the root of their issue, by doing tests that actually work to help them find the root cause of their hormone issues, their gut issues, their immune issues. If you finally want to get to the root of your issues at the cellular level, make sure to click the link or go to beyondbloodwork.com. And one of the myths that I want to combat that I think a lot of women might believe is, listen, no matter what I do, I'm going to have these severe menopausal symptoms.

Starting point is 00:22:12 And listen, that's not true. It might be true in more Western countries, but again, I mentioned this earlier. If you go to Japan in areas like Mediterranean, if you go to certain areas in Italy and other places around the world, they don't have these symptoms more than 75% of the time. Think about that. Okay. So most women, 75% of women, have really almost no menopausal symptoms. And in a lot of these countries, there's just a cultural difference.

Starting point is 00:22:38 In Japan, I mentioned far less symptoms and a diet that's much healthier. A lot of miso, a lot of edamame, a lot of seaweed, a lot of fish. These things are going to help with the symptoms. In India, in Ayurvedic medicine, menopause is often viewed as a natural transition rather than a medical problem. I think that's the way people think about it in the West. It's a medical condition. It's a medical problem. And the reality is, if you're doing the right things, you can have very little to no menopausal symptoms.

Starting point is 00:23:10 In Ayurvedic medicine, and when you look at Japan, they're doing a lot more herbs as well. I think that's one of the single biggest things we're missing in our diet. In Ayurveda, they're recommending a lot of chattavri. They're recommending a lot of turmeric. They're recommending a lot of herbs that are going to decrease these symptoms. And then in Chinese medicine, they're doing the very same thing. a lot of green tea, a lot of black kohash, a lot of these things that are going to reduce the symptoms. There's also regular practice. When you look in Japan, they're walking. They're on their

Starting point is 00:23:41 bicycle. They're swimming. They're doing practices like Tai Chi and yoga, just flowing movements that are healthy. In Ayurveda, they're doing things like yoga and meditation. These are things that reduce stress levels and bring the body more into balance. And so in all of these different cultures, And then the Mediterranean, you know, countries like Greece and Italy, women experience far fewer symptoms as well. Think about their diet. A lot more extra virgin olive oil, more healthy fats, more antioxidants, more food that was picked fresh that day.

Starting point is 00:24:13 Wild caught fish, right? These are things. And then here's the other thing. More connection and community, right? Laughter. They're not rushing to every, every, you know, every part of every day or everything they're doing every day. there's less busyness.

Starting point is 00:24:28 All of these things collectively can help you heal. If you can put together a protocol for yourself, walking through some of the things that I'm going to go through now, it's going to help you feel younger, look younger, balance those progesterone and estrogen symptoms, bringing your body back into balance naturally. So let's walk through herbs, the supplements, and the diet. Before I do that, though, I do want to mention here.

Starting point is 00:24:50 Here are the biggest reasons why in the Western world women are getting severe menopausal symptoms. Number one is an unhealthy diet. It's excess sugar intake. It's high in processed foods. It could be potato chips. It could be French fries. It could be pizza.

Starting point is 00:25:06 Excess alcohol consumption. Now, I do want to say when you look at France and Italy and Greece, they are drinking a fair amount of wine and probably actually more than we do here. But it's in such a way where they're laughing and they're doing a three-hour meal and reducing stress or doing it at the beach. It's a different way. So I don't think that's the single biggest thing But if you're a person you're stressed out

Starting point is 00:25:26 And then you're trying to drink away your stress Along with eating a bag of potato chips And ice cream, that's going to cause a problem But unhealthy diet is the single biggest thing Making menopausal symptoms worse. The second biggest thing is chronic stress. Elevating cortisol Then majorly disrupts estrogen progesterone.

Starting point is 00:25:45 And so just rushing from thing to thing, chronic stress, having too many things in your life, not having enough things you love to do, that's the second biggest component. Those two things alone are the biggest reasons. Number three, sedentary lifestyle. You're just not moving enough, not walking, not getting on a bicycle, not playing with your grandkids or kids enough.

Starting point is 00:26:02 Number four, poor gut health. Number five, nutritional deficiencies. There's a lot of women today deficient in magnesium, vitamin D, certain types of B vitamins, iron. There's major deficiencies there. Number six, it could be overconsumption of alcohol. The other thing, number seven, would be hormone disruptors, If you're using a lot of plastic bottles, Teflon pans, all these chemicals that can cause issues,

Starting point is 00:26:27 poor sleep, excess weight, genetics play a very, very minor role. Maybe if you're not a good methylator, which there's ways to fix that nutritionally. But overall, the biggest things that are disrupting women today causing men as possible symptoms to be worse are diet, stress. And then just, which is tied to stress too, just lifestyle issues. You don't have enough town time, not enough rest of. not enough joy building, doing things you love to do, those are issues. So let's walk through the top herbs and supplements for improving menopausal symptoms.

Starting point is 00:27:01 Number one, by far, is black cohosh. This is an herb that was traditionally used in all of Asian medicine. It contains phytoestrogens that mimic estrogen and support estrogen in the body. It's been shown in clinical studies to reduce hot flashes and night sweats. It also improves mood, eliminates joint pain related to menopause, so lots of benefits. Number one thing you can take for menopause is black cohosh. Number two is wild yam. This is a root rich in something called diocesanin, and this compound supports hormone

Starting point is 00:27:37 balance, and specifically, it's a natural progesterone booster. So black cohosh increases estrogen, while wild yam increases progesterone. And wild yam has been shown to also help with women who have estrogen dominance. So you might have been a woman throughout your life. You just know you've been really estrogen dominant. Well, wild yam is really great for helping bring some balance there. Now, you also want to do some things to help get rid of the excess estrogen. It could be cruciferous vegetables or an herb like milk.

Starting point is 00:28:08 So it's really your liver acting a little bit, being more active at decreasing these excess estrogens. but overall for most women, wild yam, especially in menopause, is the most beneficial. And this is in studies shown to also help with vaginal dryness. And you can do this as a cream, as a capsule as well or a tincture. But wild yam is fantastic for upping those progester levels to help with some of those specific menopausal symptoms. Number three is red clover. It's actually a legume that contains isoflavones, which act similarly to estrogen. So it's another one that's going to help estrogen.

Starting point is 00:28:45 And this one in particular is used for hot flashes, cardiovascular health, bone density and strength as well. You typically do about 40 to 80 milligrams of red clover a day. Another favorite of mine. Now, this is used more in Ayurvedic medicine. It's known as Chitavri. And it's an adaptogenic herb that also contains phytoestrogens, but also helps lower cortisol. So it helps, twofold, helps increase estrogen, helps lower cortisol. This also improves vaginal dryness and libido, supports overall vitality, helps with managing

Starting point is 00:29:19 stress, typically doing around 500 milligrams twice a day of Chautavari, helps with menopausal symptoms. Number five is Don Quai. This is known as female ginseng in TCM. And it adds as a blood tonic and hormone balance. A lot of women are blood deficient. So if you would stick out your tongue, if it's not a bright red or a very vibrant pink, again, not pale pink, vibrant pink, like almost red,

Starting point is 00:29:45 then you have what's called a blood deficiency where your blood isn't nourished enough, and that's a lack of oxygen. When that happens, you're going to feel fatigued. So if you're going through menopause and you just feel tired, you maybe even feel more pale on your skin or your tongue, Don Quai is the single most powerful herb for improving that, and that can improve also hot flashes.

Starting point is 00:30:06 It can improve, like if you feel like you've got poor circulation, blood circulation, like your hands and feet get cold, that's an issue there if you get sometimes you know any sort of just muscle pain or cramping it's also good for that but energy low energy don quai is incredibly powerful typically I would recommend around 500 to a thousand milligrams daily of don quai as you go through menopause and so as we talked about those those are the most powerful herbs as you go through menopause to improve those symptoms and there's a few others there I could have mentioned romani as another good one or ashriganda but generally those are the Fab Five that will decrease those menopausal symptoms.

Starting point is 00:30:47 Now, next up, I would say supplementing with, when we're talking about nutrients, magnesium is number one. It's an essential mineral that supports relaxation of your blood vessels, of your body, it improves sleep. There's studies showing it sometimes reduces hot flashes and night sweats. It also promotes better sleep, reduces anxiety. I would recommend about 300 to 400 milligrams daily. ideally at night or the evening of a magnesium glycinate, magnesium 3 inate, or a food-based

Starting point is 00:31:18 magnesium that maybe comes from something like spriolina. But that's what I would recommend for magnesium. Number two, an omega-3 fatty acid. I would recommend one to two thousand milligrams a day of a fish oil could also be caviar oil or row oil, but some sort of oil that has EPA and DHA. And then in addition, I would add in some nuts and seeds that are rich in omega-3s and eat wild-caught fish itself as well. Number three is vitamin D. I would do about 2,000 milligrams daily if you feel like your magnesium levels are just minorly low or about right. If not, you want to do closer to 5,000 I use of vitamin D daily. And here's the other thing.

Starting point is 00:32:00 You ideally want to take it with magnesium. So one of the best things you could do is find a vitamin D magnesium combo. and take those together because they both improve the absorption of one another. Now, your ideal way to get vitamin D is via sunlight. This is why spending way more time outdoors will help your symptoms. And here's the thing. You want to get sun in your skin, but you don't want to get too much sun. And you never want to get sunburn because that is actually what ages your skin is getting a sunburn, more than anything.

Starting point is 00:32:29 So get 20 minutes, get 30 minutes, then you might cover up. You do want to spend more time outside. but you you also some people think you should get no sun on your skin if you don't want to age it is just not true you want to get a minimal amount to get to get that vitamin D and then you can cover up or put on a natural-based sunscreen number four probiotics these live bacteria support the gut microbiome which is going to increase your nutrient absorption of all your nutrients your body can create more nutrients and actually create more hormones 95% of your body's serotonin is created in your gut and so So you want to do everything you can to support the gut microbiome.

Starting point is 00:33:07 I recommend about 100 billion CFUs daily for most women. And if you've ever taken an antibiotic and a poor gut health, one trillion probiotics a day. And so those are the biggest needle movers in terms of supplements. So listen, there's not a million things you need to take. If you can find a good, you know, few herbs that we talked about and a few good nutritional nutrients there in probiotics, you're going to see amazing results there along with adjusting your lifestyle. Now let me walk you through the best foods for. metapause in the dietary approach.

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Starting point is 00:34:15 And the numbers speak for themselves, and their SPF neutralizes free radicals four times more effectively than other so-called anti-aging sunscreens. I personally use their OS1 face in the morning and in the evening, and I've noticed my skin feels firmer, healthier, and more hydrated than ever before. So if you want to start improving your skin at the cellular level, go to oneskin.co, forward slash axe, and use the code axe. That's AXC at check out for 15% off your first purchase. That's OneSkin.co, forward slash axe, code axe for 15% off today. So let me walk you through the best foods for menopause. And this is proven by modern science today in functional medicine. It's also proven by thousands of years of ancient forms of medicine like TCM and Ayurveda. And here's the idea of what you want to do that I mentioned earlier. Your body, when you're estrogen and progesterone lower, it stops producing enough moisture

Starting point is 00:35:14 in your body also isn't able to cool itself as well. So you get hot. You get sweaty. Those things start to happen. And so these foods in particular are going to help you balance that. Now, in Chinese medicine, they would call it a kidney yen deficiency. That's the medical term used in Chinese medicine in Japan. We talked about Japanese medicine.

Starting point is 00:35:35 They use the very same type of medicine or very similar to that in China. And this is why women have far less menopausal symptoms. They actually understand and know why they're having these symptoms. And so we want to bring moisture and coolness to the body and protect it. The number one food group that's going to help with that is going to be green leafy vegetables that are steamed. Like steamed spinach is going to be very helpful with that. Steamed kale is going to help you with that. berries and pomegranates specifically goji berries are the single best in pomegranates goji berries and

Starting point is 00:36:09 pomegranates the second category and i would say would be blueberries and blackberries okay um and apples and pears can be great too for kind of bringing that moisture to the body but pomegranates and goji berries you can buy pomegranate powder add a teaspoon or a tablespoon to a morning smoothie you could um just eat pomegranates or do a little pomegranate juice or mix that in water with a little stevie and drink that throughout the day but again pomegranates and goji berries probably the most powerful berries for reducing menopausal symptoms and then we have fatty fish wild caught salmon being one of the best you could buy sock ice salmon wild king salmon in addition there's lots of other great types of fish wild caught tuna also sea bass black cod sardines halibut you know even

Starting point is 00:36:59 grouper and snapper but getting more fish and especially the fattenes fish in your diet is going to be very, very helpful. Pasture raised organic meat like grass-fed beef and bison and poultry and duck. Duck in particular is very moistening to the body. That would be great to try sometime. And by the way, you cook duck just like you cook chicken in a very similar way. Flax seeds and chia seeds and hemp seeds. These contain those omega-3s and they bring natural moisture to the body.

Starting point is 00:37:27 And if you need to build your blood, black sesame seeds are good. But in particular, flax and walnuts would be the two that I would consume the most of. You could add a tablespoon of flax seeds to a smoothie or do a little bit of cottage cheese or yogurt. Walnuts you could do maybe with a snack with pomegranate, something like that is a good option. And then I would recommend doing herbs like turmeric, cinnamon, rosemary, just regularly using more of these herbs on your food. Sage, basil has incredible benefits for hormones. And then I would say yogurt. This could be a plant-based yogurt like coconut yogurt, or it could be an A2 dairy yogurt,

Starting point is 00:38:09 like sheep yogurt or goat milk yogurt or an A2 cow's milk yogurt or kefir is another option. Think about it, it's very moistening to the body. And then avoid processed foods, refined sugars, trans fats, just remove the processed foods. That's going to help tremendously. And then when you're creating your meals for menopause, you want to follow a very specific dietary pattern. Number one, get more protein. Okay. So get more protein, more collagen, more bone broth, more plant-based protein. So in the morning, a lot of times if I have a woman create a hormone balancing smoothie, what I will have them do is I'll have

Starting point is 00:38:50 them put in like a little bit of sweet potato, which is very balancing or yam in there. Maybe it's like a fourth of a cup. I'll then have them do a tablespoon of goji berry powder. I might have them do a little beetroot juice, possibly even a little bit of a pomegranate juice. And then I'll have them do 20 grams of a collagen-based protein, like a bone broth or a stem cell based protein. I'll have them do maybe 20 grams of a vanilla plant-based protein and then add in a little bit of water, a little bit of coconut milk and make that superfood morning smoothie. You could add in other herbs, like a little bit of cinnamon in there. And that's an amazing morning smoothie to do to help balance your hormones there. And there are other things. But again, you're getting lots of protein there. You're getting fiber.

Starting point is 00:39:36 You're getting antioxidants. That's what you want to focus on. And then for your other meals, I would say for lunch, do wild caught fish or grass fed beef or chicken or turkey. Do that with a little bit of sweet potato or or Basmati or Jasmine rice or a little bit of sourdough bread. And so you're going to do more of that carbs, fiber, and protein. At night, you're going to go lower carb and do more fat. And so you're going to do the wild-caught salmon. You're going to do an avocado or some extra-vergent olive oil. And you're going to take, do a lot of vegetables you're going to cook in extra-vergent olive oil or coconut oil or just steam them. You can have those with some hummus or tahini or, and then for dinner, maybe you're doing a few bites of dark chocolate. Something like that. That's sort of the ideal

Starting point is 00:40:21 eating plan there for you. And as I mentioned earlier, there are lots of diets that can help. I want to mention a few just studies here. A Mediterranean diet in terms of the studies tremendously helps. And that's incorporating most of the foods I mentioned. It's lean protein. It's more fiber. It's it's it's berries. It's more healthy oils. All of those are going to help. More omega-3 fats. You know, a lower carb diet actually can help. I'm not saying you should go keto. But I am saying there's a study out of the UMass General, and they found that when somebody did more fat and less sugar in their diet, they experienced less hot flashes. So moderating those carbs and especially at night going lower in carbohydrate is a smart idea when it comes to getting rid of menopausal symptoms. And then when it comes to lifestyle and movement, regular exercise.

Starting point is 00:41:15 Now, when you look at a lot of these longevity or blue zones, you're going to notice they walk a lot or they cycle a lot. Okay, so they are just, they're walking in cycling places as much as they can, about 30 to 60 minutes a day. And then sometimes they're doing some sort of other exercise. So I would recommend in an ideal world that you strength train three days a week, but at least two days a week. I'd recommend on those days that you don't walking or doing some light cardiovascular exercise in one day, trying to do a little bit more intense cardiovascular exercise. Remember, prioritizing sleep is also a big deal. you want at least seven hours of sleep at night, at least.

Starting point is 00:41:54 And then hydration. Remember, you want more moisture. So doing about eight to ten glasses of water a day or getting two or three of those big 32-ounce things of water and drinking that throughout the day. You could add, you don't need a full electrolyte powder. You probably can do like a half a packet of an electrolyte powder or add in a little pomegranate juice in Stevia with a pinch of sea salt, something like that. And also eat more celery.

Starting point is 00:42:18 Eat more plums. watermelon in the in the summer months that's also going to bring some great hydration to your body as well and then what we talked about is stress management look at your daily schedule or look at your weekly schedule and try incorporate spending more time in prayer with god reading your bible connecting with another woman at bible study spending some time in meditation you know doing you creating more community and connection with friends and laughter and sometimes you have to pursue and build those and that takes work but it's worth it it's worth it's worth it's it for your longevity, it's worth it for your well-being. And God created us for deep intimate

Starting point is 00:42:57 connection with one another. And so the reality is this, when we're not living in tune with what God created, which is being connected to him, being connected to others, and being connected with nature, we're sick. If you can increase your connection in relationships and all those errors, you're going to be healthier. The menopausal symptoms will all get better in response to that. And there are other natural treatments that can tremendously help with menopause. Acupuncture is great. Massage therapy can be great as well. Are some things you may consider there as well.

Starting point is 00:43:28 And let me close by talking about the pros and the cons of hormone replacement therapy. And again, what you can do instead, which is a lot of what we discovered. But first, hormone replacement therapy has been shown to be ideal if it's used, typically between the ages of 50 and 60 or within 10 years of onset of menopause. The potential benefits, according to the studies, is it has been. been shown to reduce hot flashes and night sweats. It has been shown to support bone density. It has been ensured to improve mood and sleep issues. Here are the cautions. While it can be effective, it also has potential health risks, the most common being certain types of cancer, especially hormone-based cancers like breast cancer. In fact, I know someone personally who got

Starting point is 00:44:11 in hormone replacement therapy, and not just one person in the past just literally a few months ago and many people years before who got in hormone replacement therapy and a couple years after they did they were diagnosed of breast cancer or an ovarian type of cancer. So I've seen this in clinical practice. I know that it can be a cause or contribute in certain cases to certain types of cancer. But also, if your hormone symptoms are so severe that they are destroying your sleep, destroying your mental health, that sometimes is worse than any side effect of hormone replacement therapy and that can be a better option than for those cases. So listen, I think there's a time and a place for hormone replacement therapy for women. But before you jump into hormone replacement therapy,

Starting point is 00:44:54 the first thing you should do, like taking any synthetic medication, the first thing you should do, change your diet, try some herbs. The other thing I want to mention here finally is that you can also take glandular supplements, take ovary, and take uterus of cows or shableness. Orch. sheep. Okay, so take a glandular supplement for women, typically do twice the dosage and take those along with the herbs and all the things I mentioned. You could also try peptides, but try taking these glanulars, try doing the vitamins and the supplements and the lifestyle, all the things I tried. In 90% of the time, what you're going to see is these symptoms you have of menopause, they're going to improve or completely be eliminated. And if after doing those things, if you still

Starting point is 00:45:43 have not seen improvement, then there's the time, there's the place to do the medication, to do the hormone, specifically the hormone replacement therapy, that's the time. But it shouldn't be the first thing you run to because you're turning off your body's own tap, and ideally you want to be able to just turn that tap on more where there's this natural flow of energy throughout your body, and those symptoms disappear or improve tremendously. I want to say thanks so much for tuning in here to the show. You know, I think with menopause, this is something that isn't talked about enough, in terms of how do you really thrive through your 40s, your 50s, your 60s, and later on in life,

Starting point is 00:46:19 especially for women. And for me, you know, I've helped guide my mom through it. And, you know, I didn't bring up my mother-in-law was so interesting. I put her on a diet like this when she was around, I want to say it was 49 years old. And when she got on it, she actually had started menopause. She had not had her cycle in a year or two. And then she started having it again, which I know some of you may not want to go through that again, but all that being said, she started having some of the symptoms, because she was able to reverse her biological age.

Starting point is 00:46:48 She probably reversed her age by five to 10 years. She was that much younger, looking younger, feeling of her. So here's the other big bonus I want to mention. As you follow this menopausal diet I just went through in the herbs and the lifestyle adjustments, not only is it going to help improve your progesterone and estrogen and alleviate the menopausal symptoms, you are actually biologically going to be getting younger.

Starting point is 00:47:14 Your skin will you look younger, your wrinkles will be like overall. You will look younger, feel younger, and actually be younger biologically when you walk through this dietary and lifestyle protocol I went through. So there's not just the benefits of the symptoms. They're the benefits of longevity and health, being able to live out more of your purpose, connect more with your family, and live an abundant life. I want to say thanks so much for tuning in here to the show. Hey, make sure to subscribe. By the way, I am so elated that so many of you are subscribed. And listen,

Starting point is 00:47:44 some of you are not and you're missing out. We've got so many amazing interviews coming up. I was able to be in Washington, D.C. this past week, connecting with the head of the FDA, Marty Makerie, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. there, Dr. Mark Hyman, and so many others. We have some amazing people coming on the show. I have some amazing insights to be able to share with you in coming episodes. So if you're not subscribed, make sure to subscribe. Also, thank you all of you who have shared this episode and other episodes. We're literally changing the health of the world together. So thank you for sharing as well. And thank you all of you for the amazing reviews on Apple and Spotify. Wow. I just thank you all of you as well. If you haven't left a review, please do that as well.

Starting point is 00:48:23 But again, I just want to say thanks to everybody. And I can't wait to see you on the next episode.

The Dr. Josh Axe Show - How to Manage Menopause Symptoms & Balance Hormones Naturally

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