One of the signs of
menopause is a change in menstrual patterns. Between ages 45 and 60,
a woman's ovaries make less of the female hormones, estrogen and
progesterone. Periods become irregular in both cycle length and flow,
and eventually, stop completely. This change indicates that a woman
is growing beyond her childbearing years.
Other
Symptoms Include:
-
Hot flashes-
are one of the more common and
earliest signs of menopause, sometimes beginning several years
before other signs. They give a sudden feeling of warmth through
the upper body. The process may last anywhere from a few seconds to
a half hour or more. It can be several times a day or only once a
week.
Natural
treatments for hot flashes:
products such as vitamin E and vitamin B
complex, as well as certain herbs, such as black cohosh. Foods made
from soybeans-such as soy milk, roasted soy nuts and tofu.
- Vaginal dryness-with
age the walls of the vagina become thinner, less elastic and drier.
The vagina is then more vulnerable to infection. Also these changes
sometimes result in uncomfortable or painful sexual intercourse,
although continuing regular sexual activity will reduce the
possibility of problems developing.
Natural treatments for vaginal
dryness-women with minor vaginal dryness
can use special vaginal lubricants and moisturizers, such as
Gyne-Moistrin, Replens and Astroglide. For severe vaginal changes, a
vaginal prescription estrogen product (such as a cream or ring) is the
treatment of choice. Exercise is good for your health , but it is
good for your sex life too. Exercise will help to you to look and
feel better - and have better orgasms. At midlife, you need different
types of exercises, including stretching exercises for flexibility,
aerobic exercises for endurance and weight-bearing exercises for
strength. Kegel exercises can help women to strengthen their pelvic
floor muscles and, when practiced during intercourse, they can provide
extra stimulation for the male. Exercise will certainly make
lovemaking more comfortable and creative!
- Urinary
problems-as
body tissues change with age some women experience urinary stress
incontinence, which is the loss of urine when exercising, coughing,
laughing, or performing other movements that put pressure on the
bladder. While incontinence can be embarrassing, it is common and
treatable, for example, certain exercises can strengthen the
affected muscles or sometimes surgery is performed to cure it.
Helpful
methods for prevention of urinary problems-some
women are prone to urinary tract infections. These tend to recur but
are easily treated with antibiotics or other measures. Preventive
techniques include urinating after intercourse, not keeping the
bladder over-full for long periods, drinking adequate amounts of
fluids and keeping the genital area very clean.
-
Weight gain
- It is important
to realize that everyone’s metabolism is different according to
their gender, genetic make-up and age. In the process of menopause
your metabolism slows down and your lean mass is decreasing and you
start to build fat. Because muscle cells burn more calories than
fat, the less muscle you have, the fewer calories you burn.
The key to raising your metabolism is dependent upon knowing what
it is and how it works. Your metabolism is like an engine that
transforms the food you eat into energy that runs your body. Your
metabolic rate is the speed at which the food is transformed
into energy. Many of us look at food in the wrong way. Food that we
put in our mouths becomes both fuel and "building blocks" for our
bodies. It is what gives us energy and the elements necessary to
repair and rebuild ourselves. What we eat determines whether we gain,
maintain, or lose weight.
Helpful methods of weight control:
- Establish a healthy diet.
Eat a variety of foods in smaller portions. Because your metabolism
slows as you age, you need about 200-400 fewer calories a day. Eat
only when you are hungry and only enough to satisfy your hunger.
As you age, your body becomes less able to handle extra food and
likely to store the excess as fat. So, eat small meals. Eat only when
you are hungry. Consume most of your calories during the day when your
metabolism is higher.
Losing weight and keeping it off is very difficult for most people.
Besides making you feel old and unattractive, the extra-pounds around
your middle are associated with lung and breathing problems,
cardiovascular disease, arthritis, endocrine problems, gall bladder
disease, diabetes, several cancers, gallstones, hypertension ,
osteoporosis and premature death.
2. The untold story of weight control:
Why we do we want to eat? Why are we starving no matter how
much we eat?
Because your body needs elements in the form of vitamins and
minerals to perform all of its metabolic functions. Your body is
looking for these "building blocks" in the food you give it, but the
chances are great that your food doesn't contain the building blocks
your body demands. When your food contains too much fuel, but too few
"building blocks" your body asks you to eat more and more. This
additional fuel is stored entirely as fat.
This causes obesity.
It is difficult to obtain the necessary vitamins and
minerals from food because of mineral-deficient soils that are common
throughout the world today. It only takes 10 years of intensive
farming to exhaust the minerals in any tract of land. The depletion of
necessary nutrients by cooking and processing living foods adds to the
difficulty in obtaining vital minerals and vitamins from our food.
Severe mineral and vitamin deficiencies will result in serious
illnesses. Too much body fat is a symptom of
malnutrition. So, where can we
get the minerals we need if they not available in our food supply?
About the only method available is to initiate a program of
nutritional supplementation. |