Hormone replacement therapy is medication that contains female hormones. You take the medication to replace the estrogen that your body stops making during menopause. Hormone therapy is most often used to treat common menopausal symptoms, including hot flashes and vaginal discomfort.
Traditional natural hormone replacement therapy includes using supplements and alternative medicines, such as St. John's wort, red clover, and evening primrose oil to treat the symptoms associated with menopause.
It depends on your situation. Not all women need, want or are candidates for estrogen therapy. Estrogen can reduce menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness. If you have a uterus, you'll likely need to take progesterone along with the estrogen.
Managing menopause symptoms without HRT
For instance: Cutting back on alcohol, caffeine, and spicy foods, and quitting smoking, can minimize your hot flashes. Exercising regularly can reduce your risk of weight gain, as well as symptoms of hot flashes and disrupted sleep.
Without estrogen, you are at risk for weak bones later in life, which can lead to osteoporosis. ET lowers your risk by slowing bone thinning and increasing bone strength. If you are in your 20s, 30s, or 40s, you may want to use ET to avoid early menopause after oophorectomy.
Avocados appear to have anti-estrogenic effects as a result of their plant sterol content. Avocado cell walls are a rich source of β-sitosterol, which binds competitively to both forms of the estrogen receptor, ERα and ERβ. As such, avocados have the potential to reduce ER+ breast cancer risk.
Hormone creation - magnesium actually makes your hormones progesterone, estrogen and testosterone, so if you're getting into perimenopause or are just off the Pill and your levels are low, it can be your best friend.
Foods that reportedly increase estrogen include flax seeds, soybean products, chocolate, fruit, nuts, chickpeas, and legumes.
Hormone replacement therapy (HT) is a common treatment for low estrogen, especially during menopause and postmenopause. With HT, you take synthetic forms of estrogen and/or the hormone progesterone to boost your levels.
Genes associated with follicle growth were not significantly altered by vitamin D3. However, it increases expression of genes involved in the estrogen-biosynthesis. Further, estrogen concentrations in porcine granulosa cell-cultured media increased in response to vitamin D3.
Increase intake of fruits (1-3 servings per day), vegetables (at least 6 servings per day), legumes (especially soy unless there is a high risk of or current status of breast cancer), flax, nuts and seeds, olive oil and cold-water fish. Eat regularly (every 2-3 hours).
Eating a healthy diet rich in complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and whole grains, exercising regularly, and managing stress levels are essential for reducing hormonal belly fat.
Magnesium is Essential to Balancing Hormones
Magnesium is one of the most essential minerals to help balance hormones. While you can take a supplement, and even spray your skin with magnesium spray, there's no better way of getting the magnesium you need than from the foods you eat.
If you are healthy, most experts agree that HRT is safe to use at the lowest dose that helps for the shortest time needed. If you're 59 or older, or have been on hormones for 5 years, you should talk to your doctor about quitting.
OTC estrogen products
Some come in the form of creams. These will often have different application instructions than prescription creams and work differently. There are also some menopausal supplements, such as Amberen and Estroven — both of which claim to help manage menopause symptoms.
Estrogen is good for your heart by keeping cardiovascular tissue healthy. It also helps with keeping your blood pressure stable. And when your estrogen levels are high, it helps keep blood triglycerides (a type of fat) low, increases HDL cholesterol (the good kind) and lowers LDL cholesterol (the bad kind).
Hormone therapy can help ease symptoms of menopause. But it is associated with a lot of serious risks if used over the long term. Although the treatment lowers the risk of bone fractures, it increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (heart and blood vessel problems) and breast cancer.
The Multiple Benefits of HRT After 65
Introducing exogenous estrogen via HRT therefore not only addresses more overt postmenopause symptoms, it can offer protection against bone loss and help you prevent osteoporosis. These benefits are no less important once you reach the age of 65.