How to Stay Young After Menopause

In Chinese Culture, a woman's midlife transition is known as her Second Spring.

That's also the title of a new book -- "Second Spring: Hundreds of Natural Secrets for Women to Revitalize and Regenerate at Any Age" (Free Press, $17.99). It's authored by Dr. Maoshing Ni, a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine who co-founded the Tao of Wellness Chinese Medicine Center in southern California.

His clients include Sheryl Crow, Debbie Allen and Arianna Huffington. Ni's book lists natural Chinese remedies that purportedly can increase a woman's sexual energy and vitality, control appetite, reduce wrinkles and spots, and improve memory. The reader will find familiar advice: Avoid refined carbohydrates like white bread and pasta, and take ginseng, which is high in antioxidants. But readers also will learn that eating Asian, or Fuji, pears can help alleviate dark circles around the eyes.

Other advice:

• Take cinnamon, as a spice or tea, to control blood sugar.
• Don't drink fluids with meals. They dilute the gastric juices that digest our food. Drink fluids in between meals. 
• Chinese Moss fights memory loss. It boosts brain chemicals that have been linked to memory and awareness. 
• Not all fats are bad. Flaxseed, walnuts, cold-water fish, almonds, sesame and olive oils contain essential fatty acids. They can help combat bone loss and cognitive decline. 
• Broccoli, eggs and black beans are some of the foods that contain choline, a nutrient that aids the neurotransmitters in the brain. Our bodies produce choline in the liver but produce less as we age. 
• Green tea might ward off Alzheimer's and other forms of mental degeneration, because it contains antioxidants called polyphenols. 
• Don't eat just before you go to bed. You won't feel rested, because your body will be digesting food while you sleep. 
• True to its name, horny goat weed can spice up your love live. 
• Leafy greens have calcium that can increase vitality. 
• Get a deeper, more healthful sleep by spraying lavender, vanilla or green apple on your pillow.