Menopause -Vitamins, Minerals and Supplements 

Good Health depends upon good nutrition. Vitamin D, Magnesium and CoQ10  are three of the most common deficiency for women at mid life.

 For more Information and an excellent resource for Nutrition and Hormonal Supplements check out Life Extention 

Magnesium is a natural muscle relaxant and low tissue stores of this mineral can cause shoulder and neck muscle stress among other things. Low magnesium effects the adrenal gland and when we get stressed this deficiency can contribute to weight gain due to a rise in cortisol. 

Vitamin D is extremely important and is instrumental in maintaining calcium and phosphorus blood levels in the body. By midlife many people, especially women are deficient in this  vitamin .

There are two different kinds of Vitamin D in the body; ergocalciferol or Vitamin D2 , which comes from plants; and cholecalciferol or Vitamin D3, which comes from exposure to morning sunlight and some specific foods. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin and is the chemical in the body that transfers calcium from digested food in the stomach to the blood stream, and keeps the bones strong and healthy.

Vitamin D aids in controlling the supply of calcium between the bones and the blood. It is also essential for growth of bones and bone remodeling. Vitamin D is instrumental in combating depression, osteoporosis, breast cancer, prostate cancer, high blood pressure, some cardiovascular diseases, phagocytosis activity and it is known to boosts anti-tumor activity. Additionally it controls the secretion of the parathyroid hormone from the parathyroid gland. Vitamin D is essential for health and a healthy immune system.

One reasons to work with a doctor who has an expertise in nutrition as well as hormone replacement is to help identify the differences between nutritional deficiency and hormone imbalance as the symptoms can mimic each other.

There is recent research that suggest that women with low CoQ10 are eight hundred times more likely to get breast cancer! CoQ10’s primary function in cells is in generating energy in the mitochondria. This supplement is also good for the heart.

If you don’t deal with the big hormones, Insulin and Cortisol refining the smaller hormones, estrogen , progesterone and testosterone won’t be as effective. Hormone balance on all fronts is the goal. One little supplement  that many find really helpful is Melatonin. Melatonin is actually a hormone, you can buy it at any health food store in pill form and take it before going to bed – it helps me sleep better and fall asleep faster. It is also a powerful antioxidant. 

For more information about Bioidentical Hormone Replacement please check out our home page at www.bioidenticalhormonereplacement.net

Technorati Tags: depression, Menopause, mid life, Minerals, Supplements, Vitamins, weight gain

 Menopause – Fitness and Weight Management After 40

Approximately seventy percent of women gain weight during their menopausal years and most find that he weight is difficult to lose. Metabolism naturally slows down with age for both men and women and the weight can creep up before you know it, but there are things we can do to prevent this from happening. 

When looking for  solutions  on how to lose those extra pounds and or get back into shape and stay that way, many find that old methods no longer work. 

 Learn more about the best book I’ve read on this subject – Fit Over 40 

Hormone imbalance plays a major role in weight gain, weight gain is inevitable with any balance and it is not a one size fits all so the best bet is to get some blood work done and see a doctor who specializes in the area.

Various studies have shown that the main culprits are body and lifestyle changes. Two of the main factors with regard to lifestyle include lower levels of activity and an increase in stress. Menopause and andropause in addition to creating imbalances in key hormones can also catalyze various emotional issues which can lead to eating for comfort, which of course leads to overeating and results in weight gain.

To address midlife weight problems it is important to consider lifestyle as well as hormone balance, you probably need to work on both.  Activity levels, muscle preservation and most importantly, eating a healthy diet are essential.

Thyroid function can also be a factor, an unhealthy thyroid gland will reek havoc with the body and weight gain is one of the symptoms. You will want to make sure your health care professional is running complete test on the thyroid.  An under-active thyroid can result in excessive weight gain, mood swings and  appetite changes. Fatigue or depression which also accompany low thyroid  can lead to reduction in physical activity.

A few years back when I started noticing that my metabolism had slowed and my jeans were feeling tighter I read a book by a guy named Tom Venuto, it was called  Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle . I learned a lot about food but just as important I learned about strength training. 

I found out that as we age we lose more and more muscle mass every year If we do nothing to combat the loss. The good news is that it is completely avoidable and reversible if you incorporate strength training exercises into your routine. I also learned that strength training is good for bone health, it combats osteoporosis. 

When I first started strength training I was unreasonably worried about looking like an "amazon woman". Later I realized that was just a excuse  I was using to stay lazy and stuck. Once I owned it, I got a buddy and started going to the gym a minimum of three days a week for strength training and continued with my aerobics five times a week, I still do this and it has paid off as I have been able to keep my body fat percentage down around 17 to 20%. 

Strength training gave me back a body confidence I did not realized I had lost. The weight came down but more importantly the fat came off and the muscle tone showed up and there is no substitute for that. 

So when I found out that Tom had co-authored along with Jon Benson a book called  Fit Over Forty   I read it. There is plenty of inspiration but more importantly this book gave me insight to how fit people over forty think, train and eat. These are the routines of real people and plans one can incorporate into there own life  no matter how hectic   and it is sure to make a big difference in how you look and feel. I loved it!

Check out  Fit Over Forty   

For more information about Bioidentical Hormone Replacement please check out our home page at www.bioidenticalhormonereplacement.net
 

Other Interesting Blog Entries On This Topic 

Is Fitness over 50 the Solution For “Male Menopause”? 

Is it possible that fitness over 50 is the cure most midlife men are looking for?

Read more…

Outsmarting the Midlife Fat Cell: Winning Weight Control

Review Menopausal weight gain is the most stubborn weight gain you’ll ever experience, says Debra Waterhouse in Outsmarting the Midlife Fat.  

Read more…

Midlife Matters Lani Muelrath Midlife Dialogues Series 8/13/2009 

Midlife Fitness Mastery Lani Muelrath is CEO of Lani Muelrath Fitness International devoted to empowering women around the world with the tools to master their fitness multiply their energy and move their lives forward  Read more…

Exercise For Midlife Crisis

During a midlife crisis, exercise could well be the furthest thing from your mind. Lethargy can kick in and you feel like you’re lacking in energy, and if you’re battling a bout of depression too then.   Read more…

Testosterone and Visceral Fat in Midlife Women

Obesity (Silver Spring). 2009 Aug 20; Janssen I, Powell LH, Kazlauskaite R, Dugan SA Visceral fat (VF) increases with the menopause and is an independent predictor of the metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (CVD)  Read more…

Technorati Tags: age, Andropause, Hormone imbalance, low thyroid, menopausal, Metabolism, weight gain

 Progesterone Cream for Menopause

What you need to know about  progesterone cream and peri menopause. This stuff is easy to obtain and it’s affordable. It makes a world of difference for some women especially those who suffer with PMS or have other early menopausal symptoms.

It works, but read the directions carefully because different aged women should use it in slightly different ways. It makes you wonder why gynecologists don’t mention this stuff when you complain about PMS? One of the products we really like for nightitme use is Ultra Rejuvennight.

Learn more about Ultra Rejuvenight with Melatonin/DHEA/Progesterone by Life Extention 

More about Natural Progesterone Creams and Other

Natural Hormone Therapies

Progesterone is a female sex hormone, and like many sex hormones it begins to decline when women reach the menopause. Although most menopause related problems are thought to be related to declining estrogen levels, women are encouraged to take a combination of estrogen and progesterone as progesterone protects the lining of the uterus and decreases the risk of endometrial cancer.

Although scientific research has not yet corroborated the theory, many people believe that menopausal symptoms are actually due to an imbalance in hormone levels, rather than simply a decrease in estrogen, and that using progesterone on its own could relieve this imbalance.

Taking progesterone transdermally (through the skin), as a cream, gel or patch seems to be a more effective way of absorbing the hormone into your blood than taking an oral pill. Taken orally, the progesterone has to pass through the liver, where it loses much of effectiveness. In theory taking progesterone transdermally requires a dose five to eight times smaller than taking it orally, to achieve the same results.

However, taking the hormone through the skin makes determining the dosage difficult because each person absorbs at a different rate depending on their skin type and temperature. Progesterone cream also needs to be applied very precisely in the right places to be really effective.

It is essential, when you are buying a cream, that you make sure it contains natural and not synthetic progesterone. Natural progesterone has exactly the same chemical structure as the hormone produced by the ovaries in menstruating women, by the placenta during pregnancy and by the adrenal glands after menopause.

While administering natural progesterone may affect the regularity of your cycle, synthetic progesterone has many more sinister side effects. As well as abnormal menstruation it can cause fluid retention, nausea and depression, and increase your cancer risk.

As well as treating symptoms of menopause, natural progesterone cream has also been used effectively to treat pre-menstrual syndrome. Some manufacturers and their customers believe these cream really address the root cause of PMS which is a hormone imbalance, rather than simply alleviating the symptoms.

They suggest a variety of other benefits for all women in using natural progesterone cream. These include achieving quality sleep, promoting thyroid hormone activity, reducing hormone related migraine, preventing water retention, decreasing risk of breast and uterine cancer, stabilizing blood sugar, and avoiding depression.

For more information about Bioidentical Hormone Replacement please check out our home page at www.bioidenticalhormonereplacement.net

Additional information from the Natural Hormone Blogs

Progesterone Cream VS Progesterone Pills

The first most common method of supplementing progesterone levels for a woman is with progesterone cream or more specifically bio-identical progesterone cream. 

Low Progesterone Symptoms

There are many kinds of progesterone cream; ask your doctor about the differences between natural, equine and yam-derived progesterone creams. 

How to use progesterone cream

Before trying any progesterone cream, try familiarizing yourself about perimenopause. You can rely on websites or on books for you to see if you are experiencing any symptoms of it. I

Where Can I Buy Natural Progesterone Cream?

Please tell me where I can buy Natural Progesterone Cream? I don’t mind buying it on the net as long as it’s a legit and safe website. I am in the UK? Do any. 

Technorati Tags: cream, emerita, Menopause, natural, peri menopause, PMS, Progest, progesterone

Launched in 2009, the Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Blog is a new form of community unlimited by physical location or time zone.

We focus on the latest information regarding science and treatment of hormone imbalance. We come together to talk about what is new in terms of information, research and best practices to solve problems in real people lives. Some of us have spent large amounts of time and money on solutions that have and have not worked. Here, we share our stories, our solutions and experiences so that we might be helpful to others.