Women experiencing menopause and peri-menopause often wonder if there is anything they can do alleviate their symptoms naturally. Hot flashes, headaches, mood swings, weight gain, fatigue, sleepless nights and decreased libido are some common symptoms that can be reduced by some simple diet and lifestyle changes. With all the debates on hormone replacement, isn’t it nice to know you have the power to change how you feel naturally.

Food Suggestions: 

Certain foods can actually cause night sweats and hot flashes. To see if you are eating your way to an internal heat wave, consider keeping a Hot Flash Journal. Try to identify and understand what your food triggers might be. Keep track of the time of day or night your flashes come along with a food journal for a few weeks. This will allow you to see if there are any patterns present and which foods may be the ones setting you off. Typically, foods like sugar, simple carbohydrates, alcohol, caffeine, and spicy foods are the culprits.

• Reduce Alcohol and Caffeine: Both alcohol and caffeine can affect your hormone levels and exasperate your symptoms. Try transitioning to herbal teas and limiting your alcohol intake to 1 or 2 drinks 1 or 2 times a week. Sometimes just one glass of wine can teleport your body to the tropics. 

• Reduce Sugar intake: Sugar can also affect your hormone levels, throwing your hormones out of balance and making your symptoms worse. Try switching over to natural sweeteners like Agave or maple syrup. You can even experiment with fruit and sweet vegetables to satisfy your sweet tooth.

• Reduce processed white flours: Processed white flours and white grains, like white bread, pasta, baked goods and white rice react like sugar in your body, throwing your hormone levels out of balance. Stick with whole grains like quinoa, barley, millet, brown rice and whole wheat to give you long lasting energy without the blood sugar spikes.

• Increase Omega 3 Fatty Acids: Omega 3 fatty acids can help to relieve irritability, mood swings and hot flashes. They are also considered a source of healthy fats, which actually helps your body burn fat, possibly resulting in some weight loss.  Flaxseeds, flax oil, walnuts, olive oil and cold-water fish like salmon are full of omega 3 fatty acids. Try this recipe for “Apple Cinnamon Menopausal Muffins” (http://life.gaiam.com/gaiam/p/MenopauseMuffinsRecipe.html) as an easy and yummy way to get your omega 3 fatty acids.

Lifestyle Suggestions:

Stress can be a major cause of hot flashes, irritability and night sweats. Finding your favorite method of relaxation and stress reduction is key.

• Increase your exercise. Exercise is one of the best things you can do to calm your body and mind, reduce anxiety and to control your weight. Whether it be yoga, tai-chi, weight lifting or aerobics, be sure to give yourself ample time to cool down since exercising raises your body’s core temperature. 

• Try to relax. Consider taking up meditation or a class in deep breathing to help you clear your mind, rebalance and refocus. Since your emotional state has just as much to do with your symptoms as anything physical, keep in mind that feeling stressed, anxious or angry may be adding fuel to your fire. If meditation is not for you, simply taking some time for yourself to read a book, take a bath, get a massage or even listen to music can have an affect on your mental state of mind.

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On average we consume over 20 teaspoons of added sugar in our diet daily, and sometimes we don’t even know it. This can add up to an average of 142 pounds of sugar per person per year! Americans love sweets! And how could we not when sweet flavors release serotonin in our brains, the chemical that gives off the feelings of love, contentment and well-being. But not all sweeteners are created equal. When it comes to refined sweeteners like white table sugar, high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners like NutraSweet and Splenda, there are many side effects and health risks to take into consideration. These items are stripped of vitamins, minerals and fiber and can spike your blood sugar, often leading to more sugary cravings, mood and energy swings. Sugar can be addictive for many people because of the chemical reaction that take place in the body. Artificial sweeteners, because of the neurotoxins they contain, have been know to cause headaches, memory loss, nausea, PMS, dizziness, mood changes, heart arrhythmia, joint pain and more. Using natural and minimally processed sweeteners can help to control sugar cravings, stabilize moods and energy and have a dramatic effect on your health. Since most natural sweeteners are 1.5 times sweeter then sugar, you can use less of it in baking and other recipes that call for sugar.

Here are 5 natural sweeteners to get you started.

1) Agave Nectar-Agave nectar is a natural liquid sweetener made from the juice of the agave cactus. It is 1.4 times sweeter than refined sugar, but does not create a “sugar rush,” and is much less disturbing to the body’s blood sugar levels than white sugar.

2) Raw Honey-Honey will have a different flavor depending on the plant source. Some are very dark and intensely flavored. Wherever possible, choose raw honey, as it is unrefined and contains small amounts of enzymes, minerals, and vitamins.

3) Date Sugar-Date sugar consists of finely ground, dehydrated dates, utilizing this fruit’s vitamin, mineral, and fiber content. If you like the taste of dates, this will definitely appeal to you. Date sugar can be used as a direct replacement for sugar, and comes in a granulated form

4) Maple Syrup-Maple syrup is made from boiled down maple tree sap and contains many minerals. It adds a pleasant flavor to foods and is great for baking with. Be sure to buy 100% pure maple syrup, and not maple-flavored corn syrup.

5) Barley Malt-Barley malt is made from the soaking, sprouting, mashing, cooking, and roasting of barley. This process capitalizes on the naturally present enzymes. In this process, the carbohydrates are broken down into simple sugars, yet the final product is more of a “whole food” than many other sweeteners. Barley malt can come in the form of powder or syrup.

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By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Guest Blogger

The rising cost of health care is a problem for millions of adults ages 50 to 64.

Health care reform offers the opportunity to help people in this age group reduce financial and health risks.

In 2007, 7.1 million 50- to 64-year-olds didn’t have insurance, according to the AARP report “Health Care Reform: What’s at Stake for 50- to 64-Year-Olds.” And those who do have insurance are likely to spend more of their income on health than younger adults.

In the U.S., which spends twice as much as other industrialized nations on health care, health care reform is badly needed for baby boomers.

Public Citizen, a citizen advocacy organization, would like to see single-payer national health insurance adopted and carried out here. It believes this is the only solution that provides universal access to care while reducing costs.

What is single-payer national health insurance?

It’s a system in which the health care expenditures of people are paid for through one source – the federal government or a subcontracting entity – using tax revenue from individuals and employers. Care is provided privately at hospitals and clinics but paid for publicly.

Individuals are allowed to choose their providers, and physicians are paid on a fee-for-service basis or paid salaries by hospitals that receive an annual budget or by nonprofit health maintenance organizations.

A majority of American physicians and the public support a single-payer system, according to Public Citizen.

The group offers the following information on “myths and facts” about single-payer because people have questions about what it is and how it works.

Myth: Single-payer would cost too much.

Fact: Because of our patchwork system of private insurance, more than 30 percent of every health care dollar is spent on administration rather than on care. This includes underwriting, marketing, billing, denying claims, profit, and paper-pushing for hospitals and physician offices.

By eliminating private insurance, a single-payer system would reduce administrative spending by about half – nearly $400 billion annually. These savings are enough to provide every American with comprehensive health insurance, without increasing total spending.

Myth: Single-payer would cost businesses too much.

Fact: Because a single-payer system is more efficient than the current system, health care costs would be lower, and businesses that already provide health care benefits would save money.

In Canada, the three major auto manufacturers – Ford, GM, and Daimler-Chrysler – have all publicly endorsed Canada’s single-payer health system from a business and financial standpoint. In the U.S., Ford pays more for its workers’ health insurance than for the steel to make its cars.

Myth: Lines for care would be extremely long.

Fact: In countries with single-payer, urgently needed care is always provided immediately. People in these countries may have to wait for some elective procedures such as cataract removal or knee replacement for arthritis.

Because the U.S. spends double what countries with single-payer spend on health care – and would continue to spend this much under a single-payer system – access to care here would be better and waits would be much shorter.

Myth: People would overuse the system.

Fact: Most estimates indicate that there would be some increased use of the system, mostly by the nearly 50 million people who currently don’t have health insurance. However, the dramatic savings from a single-payer system would easily cover the increased use of some services.

Doctors would still control most health care utilization. Patients don’t usually receive prescriptions or tests just because they want them, but because their doctors decide they’re appropriate.

Myth: Government programs are wasteful and inefficient.

Fact: Some are better than others, just as some businesses are better than others. To name a few of the most successful and helpful: the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Social Security.

Consider Medicare, which is national health insurance for the elderly; its overhead is about 3 percent of every health care dollar spent on administration, while overhead and profits for private insurance can add up to more than 15 percent.

Myth: The government would make health care decisions for patients and dictate how physicians practice medicine.

Fact: In countries with a national health insurance system, physicians are rarely questioned about their medical practices, and usually only in cases of suspected fraud. Compare this to our system, where patients and doctors routinely must ask insurance companies for permission for certain procedures, tests, and treatments.

Public Citizen urges consumers to become active in health care reform and help create the new health care system.

For more information, visit www.citizen.org/singlepayersolution.

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Still a Diva at Sixty!

OK, we all have birthdays – but this is a special one for me – today I turned 60. I remember turning 50 and how very difficult that was for me. But 60 – well, it feels OK. I actually waited until my 60th birthday to write this because I wanted to be 60 when I wrote it. I wanted to see if I would feel anything different than what I was feeling, which has been and still is OK!

I believe that 60 is OK because I am happy – and I am happy because I made a choice to BE HAPPY! And yes, it is a choice – a choice we make everyday. I could choose to be disappointed, or sad, or old or numerous other things – but I have made a personal choice to be happy – happy with life, happy with who I am, happy with the things I am doing, happy with friends and family.

So, what happens when we make a choice to be something or to see something in a certain way? It happens! It is that simple. Our mind is a powerful tool that we can use to create happiness or sadness. If we only truly understood what a powerful tool our brain is – how are thoughts can literally create change – we would think a lot more about – dare I say – what we think.

We know that when someone is miserable, angry, or sad and they walk into the room – we can feel that energy around them. Our body and nervous system immediately respond. Now, what happens when someone enters a room filled with joy and happiness – we respond to that as well?

We really do have super powers – we have the power – each one of us – to bring joy or sadness into a room. How will you use your super powers?

And here is the fun part, if you walk into the world with joy, the more joy will come to you. Just as the reverse is true – if you walk into the world with anger, hatred, or self-pity – you will attract more of that. What do you want to attract?

In my case, I made a conscious decision about 4 years ago to change my thoughts, to change my way of looking at my life and the world. I decided to go toward the light and away from the darkness. I am not going to say that it was immediate – but I will say that like any habit, that the more I practice it – the more natural it seems – and thus the more the opposite just no longer works.

So, how do you walk out into the world? Make it a choice.

My birthday gift is that I wish each of you Blessings and more Blessings!

Judith Auslander,
Wise Heart Coaching

http://www.WiseHeartCoaching.com

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By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Guest Blogger

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