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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 sourcing when natural internal func- tioning is the better, less costly and more permanent solution? Even the current bio-identical upgrade of hormone re- placement therapy (BHRT) may lead to some biological dependency on these substances. Appropriate BHRT
should include an analysis of how the individual uniquely metabolizes hor- mones and functional foods that can help.
An edible approach to hormone
health provides deep nourishment for glands, enabling increased produc- tion 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 mimicking their previous function without the unwanted side ef- fects. Here are some leading food aids to get us there.
Pomegranate The resemblance of the inner topography of a pomegran- ate to an ovary is more than poetic homage. Pre- Renaissance Western herb- alists commonly held that a plant food’s visual similarity to a human organ indicated a positive health correlation. Re- search published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacolo-
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gy on pomegranates by Japanese scientists revealed that the seeds and fleshy cap- sules within which they are suspended, called arils, contain estrogens structurally similar to those found in mammals.
Preclinical results published in
Phytochemistry may explain why extracts of these plant-derived bio- identical hormones mimicking estra- diol, estriol and estrone are capable of replacing the function of an ovary. A Japanese study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology reported that female mice whose ovaries had been removed and were later fed pomegran- ate juice and pomegranate seed extract for two weeks showed reversals in bone loss, uterine weight loss and anxiety.
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 palatable.
As the ovarian reserve
of naturally manufactured hormones exhausts itself and prompts an imbalance, flaxseed is particularly effective in rebal- ancing levels of desirable estrogen metabolites, such as
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