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Edible Hormones Health Support for Women
by Sayer Ji and Tania Melkonian I
n addition to relieving symptoms of menopause and andropause and help- ing maintain a normal, balanced hor-
mone system, healthy eating can yield many other benefits. According to U.S. National Library of Medicine research reports, these include weight manage- ment, bone health and fertility and natu- ral defenses against breast and prostate cancers and osteoarthritis symptoms. Despite drug-free approaches to
hormone health that predate synthe- sized 20th-century hormone replace- ment therapy, the pharmaceutical industry has all but vanquished eating appropriately nutritious foods as a means to balancing hormones. Why do people embrace external sourc- ing when natural internal function- ing is the better, less costly and more permanent solution? Even the current bio-identical upgrade of hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) may lead to some biological dependency on these sub- stances. Appropriate BHRT should include an analysis of how the individual uniquely metabolizes hormones and functional foods that can help. An edible approach to hormone health provides deep nourishment for glands, enabling increased production of what they lack due to changes associated with age or illness. Healthy eating likewise reduces the activity of excess hormones already in the body, beneficially
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mimicking their previous function with- out the unwanted side effects. Here are some leading food aids to get us there.
Pomegranate The resemblance of the inner topogra- phy of a pomegran- ate to an ovary is more than poetic
homage. Pre-Renaissance Western herbalists commonly held that a plant food’s visual similarity to a human organ indicated a positive health correlation. Research published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology on pomegranates by Japanese scientists revealed that the seeds and fleshy cap- sules within which they are suspended, called arils, contain estrogens structur- ally similar to those found in mammals. Preclinical results published in Phytochemistry may ex- plain why extracts of these plant-derived bio-identical hormones mimicking es- tradiol, estriol and estrone are capable of replacing the function of an ovary. A Japanese study published in
the Journal of Ethnopharmacol- ogy reported that female mice whose ovaries had been removed and were later fed pome- granate juice and pomegran- ate seed extract for two weeks
showed reversals in bone loss, uter- ine weight loss and anxiety.
TNNaturalAwakenings.com
Broccoli Cruciferous vegetables such as broc- coli and Brussels sprouts, collard and mustard greens and the root vegetables kohlrabi and rutabaga contain gluco- sinolates, which help protect DNA from damage, according to a study published in Current Science. Also, ever-increas- ing preclinical and clinical evidence shows that consuming cruciferous vegetables reduces the risk of more than 100 health problems, including a wide range of cancers, like those affecting the bladder and breasts.
Flax Unwelcome symptoms of perimenopause (which can last years before the comple- tion of menopause) can be offset through daily ingestion of ground flax, which can be added to cereals, salads and other foods. Ground flaxseed mixed with dried berries is particularly palat- able. As the ovarian reserve of naturally
manufactured hormones exhausts itself and prompts an imbalance, flaxseed is particularly effective in rebalancing levels of desirable estrogen metabolites, such as breast-friendly 2-hydroxyestrone. It contains a fiber, lignan, that upon diges- tion produces two important phytoestrogens capable of stimulating the body’s natural estrogen receptors in cases of estrogen defi- ciency and blocking both synthetic and natural estrogen when there is excess (as with estrogen-domi- nant conditions from puberty to menopause). These proper-
ties have been confirmed in human clinical studies performed at the University of Toronto’s Department of Nutritional Sciences and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Thus, flaxseed may be considered a source of plant “estrogen” capable of prompting regression of estrogen- sensitive cancers, including those of the breast and prostate. Extremely versatile in culinary applications, combining flaxseed with
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