1. Acknowledge stress in your life and try to manage it with emotional support, Yoga, meditation, and/or daily affirmations. Lavender Oil helps with depression and is calming.
2. Include weight-bearing exercise into your daily routine. If not everyday, at least three to four times a week.
3. Support adrenal health. Take Vitamin C to help with adrenal integrity and conversion of cholesterol to adrenal hormones. Get enough protein at each meal and avoid caffeine because it causes the adrenals to over work. Licorice root is helpful with adrenal exhaustion. Nettles are also an adrenal strengthener.
4. Get your hormone levels checked. If needed, consider bio-identical hormones.
5. Cut back or eliminate alcohol and caffeine. Both can interfere with calcium absorption.
6. Quit Smoking
7. Eat a diet of whole, fresh, organic, and seasonal foods.
8. Eat healthy fats each day such as flaxseed and deep-sea fish. Flaxseed is an excellent source of fiber and of omega-3 fats. It is a lignan. Lignans have potent anti-cancer effects and have the ability to modulate the action of the hormones produced in our bodies. Lignans also help protect the cardiovascular system; they lower the LDL cholesterol and raise the HDL cholesterol.
9. Eat at least five servings of low-sugar fruits and vegetables per day. They are a good way to get antioxidants. Dark leafy greens are rich in magnesium and calcium, which strengthens bones.
10. Use moderate amounts of organic, lean proteins like poultry, tofu, beans and legumes in place of fatty meats like pork and beef. Too much protein draws calcium from our bones.
11. Eat phytoestrogens . Soy is a good example but in moderation. No more than 35 mg a day. Flaxseed is also a phytoestrogen with beneficial effects.
12. Drink green tea or a mineral rich herb tea. The minerals they supply are easily absorbed.
13. Eat sea vegetables like nore, wadame, dulse or kelp (2T daily). They are good for bone minerals. They contain vitamins D and K, which boost hormones like estrogen, progesterone and DHEA to support bones.
14. Drink at least 8 glasses of filtered water a day.
15.Take a good multi vitamin. Be sure to get enough of the following bone healthy nutrients daily.
BONE BUILDING AND HORMONE BALANCING NUTRIENTS
1. Magnesium 600-800 mg. Good for bone health and works with Calcium. Relieves soreness in sore joints and muscles.
2. Calcium 600-1,200 mg. Important for bone health and helps relieve anxiety. Also used as a sleep aid
3. Vitamin B Complex 50mg. Can improve your ability to handle stress, grief and depression. Important for hot flashes and fatigue.
4. Vitamin C 1000mg-3 000 mg. Good for the immune system
5 Vitamin D 200-1,200 mg (dose increases with age) 15 minutes of sun a day should do it. Needed for bone health 6. Vitamin E 400 –800 IU. Good for relieving hot flashes and. female problems.
7. Iron 15-30 mg
8. Vitamin K 70-140 mcg. Helps calcium attach to bone tissue
9. Boron 2-9 mg. Helps harden bones
HERBS
Chaste Berry- (Vitex agnus)- regulates pituitary hormones. Increases LH and decreases FSH. This results in increase in progesterone and decrease in estrogens.
Black Cohosh- (Cimicifuga racemosa) – a phytoestrogen-containing plant, decreases hot flashes, night sweats and emotional swings. It binds to estrogen receptors.
Dong Quai (Angelica sinensis) – acts as an estrogen modulator by occupying estrogen receptor sites. Has been called female ginseng because of its ability to enhance energy and a sense of well-being.
Licorice- (Glycyrrhiza glahra) – appears to modulate estrogen action in the same way as dong quai. It helps replenish adrenal function.
St. John’s Wart -is a nerve regenerator and lifts depression.
Nettles – helps adrenal exhaustion.
Fem-Pro – Pool Ridge Herbals, supports mid-life transition.
Joyful Change – good perimenopausal herbal tonic that consists of over twenty-five herbs. A Chinese Herb blend for Menopause.