What Doctors Don't Tell YouLots of advice for the lady looking for natural remedies for the menopause, including a recipe for the HRT Cake (yes, even we have succumbed to a recipe page). So, in no particular order, here are some suggestions in this post-HRT age.
To reduce flushes, one woman suggests a diet of ‘cleansing foods’ such as cabbage, radish, all greens, and especially broccoli and seaweed (try wakame from Sainsbury’s). At the same time, reduce red meat, dairy, non-organic poultry, and cook instead with vegetarian proteins such as tofu, tempeh and seitan, as well as the usual stand-bys of beans, pulses, nuts and seeds.
Another reader controlled her menopausal symptoms with soya products, Alpro milk, soya cereals, and vitamins E, B, and a soya isoflavone supplement with black cohosh. She also gave up all refined carbohydrates. ‘Cooling’ foods such as cucumber, courgette and mushrooms are recommended by a reader, whose flushes were controlled with this approach.
A homeopath suggests the remedy Lachesis for sudden hot flushes, and Belladonna for intense, dry heat, and Sepia for symptoms that are similar to PMS. Another suggests Sulphur or Sepia.
On the herbal front, try Forever Multi-Maca, while a combination of sage tea, agnes castus and soya milk has helped one woman reduce her flushes. One naturopathic solution that seemed to work for one reader was Femarone 40 and Dig Drops, taken three times a day.
Another approach is to brush the dry skin before taking a shower, which can help with the flushes. This should be followed by a hot sauna or hot bath, and then starting a detox diet.
And so, good readers, to our very first E-News recipe, the HRT Cake (and God knows what it tastes like):
Ingredients
4oz (100g) soya flour
4oz wholewheat flour
2 pieces stem ginger, chopped
8ozs (200g) raisins
4oz porridge oats
4oz linseeds
2oz (50g) sunflower seeds
2oz pumpkin seeds
2oz sesame seeds
half teaspoon nutmeg
half teaspoon cinnamon
half teaspoon ground ginger
approx. 1 pint soya milk
1 tablespoon malt extract
If possible, grind the linseeds and sesame seeds. Put dry ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Add soya milk and malt extract.
Mix well and leave to soak 30 minutes. If the mix is too thick add more soya milk. Spoon the mixture into two lightly oiled loaf tins lined with greaseproof paper. Bake in the oven at 190C/375F/gas mark 5 for 75 minutes or until cooked through. Leave out to cool.
Throw away in garden or give to family pet. No, sorry, have a slice with butter.
Daniel Redwood DC
Tom Ferguson MD
