By Kyle Roderick
Although high-tech medicine has pioneered superb emergency and diagnostic techniques, solutions for managing age-related conditions such as menopause are often limited. In the past decade, baby boomer consumer demand has ignited a worldwide explosion in anti-aging medical research. As a result, nutritional and herbal alternatives to traditional hormone therapies are being seriously examined as a way of providing gentle, safe and effective relief from menopause symptoms.
Researchers, physicians and menopausal women are finding that soy foods and/or Chinese herbs deliver optimal nutrition while enhancing emotional and physical health during menopause. Dale Prokupek, M.D., a board-certified gastroenterologist practicing in Beverly Hills, Calif., recommends that women over 40 start eating four ounces of soy daily to ensure a healthier, easier change of life. So does John Holmstrom III, a licensed acupuncturist and Chinese herbologist practicing in Pasadena, Calif. "Menopausal symptoms vary widely from woman to woman," he notes. "The soy and herbs may be all you need, and they're more easily tolerated and less expensive than prescription hormones."
Common menopause symptoms such as mood swings and hot flashes, insomnia, depression, diminished sexual vitality and decreased bone mass may be effectively managed by drinking a cup of soy milk and eating four ounces of firm or soft low-fat tofu each day. (Tofu is soybean curd and an excellent substitute for animal protein. Use it in salads, vegetable stir fries, soups, or braise it with vegetables and serve over rice.)
According to Dr. Prokupek, Director of the Educational Subcommittee in the Division of Nutrition and Gasteroenterology at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, Calif., "It's been scientifically proven that women can minimize, and perhaps eliminate, menopausal hot flashes and mood swings by incorporating soy foods into their diets." Research shows that Japanese women, who regularly consume soy products rather than animal protein, report markedly fewer menopausal symptoms than American women. "Japanese women also have only one-fourth as much breast cancer as American women, who eat almost too few soy foods to measure," Dr. Prokupek observes.
"Soy foods contain high concentrations of phytoestrogens, which are plant estrogens that have been shown to have hormone-balancing effects," Prokupek explains. He also notes that substituting soy protein for animal protein can help slash breast cancer risk at any age because of its genistein content. Genistein is a chemical that blocks an enzyme that turns on cancer genes and inhibits the growth of new blood vessels needed to feed growing cancers. "The average Asian woman eats about 50 to 75 milligrams of genistein a day -- the amount in about one serving of four ounces of firm or soft tofu," he says.
Studies also show that eating a soy-rich diet can help build bone mass. "This is because eating animal protein washes away much more calcium out of the body in the urine than consuming soy protein," Prokupek says. In fact, one study found that women eating meat lost 50 milligrams more calcium per day than when they ate the same amount of protein in soy milk. "A 50-milligram daily difference in calcium loss over 20 years could contribute to significant loss of bone mass," Prokupek says. "This is another valid anti-aging reason why women 40 and over may want to drink soy milk and eat four ounces of soy foods every day. There are other ways to build bone besides taking estrogen."
Another remedy menopausal women can try in lieu of estrogen replacement therapy is Chinese herbs, many of which contain plant estrogens or hormonal precursors that help balance physical and emotional symptoms. "Chinese clinical medical research has confirmed that Chinese herbal formulas can safely remedy menopause. The fact is, they've been doing so for the last 3,000 years," says Larry Eckstein, M.D., who practices Western and Chinese medicine in Los Angeles. The healing properties of Chinese herbs are being studied at the National Institutes of Health and other leading research facilities. For a referral to an M.D. who is also a licensed acupuncturist and herbologist, contact the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture at 1-800-521-2262.
"In my patients, anxiety, mood swings, hot flashes, depression, insomnia and vaginal dryness have all been diminished via daily doses of Chinese herbal menopausal formulas," says John Holmstrom. "My patients use herbs in various forms, including tablets, which they say give them good results. Another benefit is that these tablets are less expensive than pharmaceutical hormone replacement therapy.
One supplier of these remedies is ITM Supplies in Portland, Ore. ITM's number is 1-800-544-7504. Catalogue/price list is free upon request. Holmstrom advises women to try formulas for two to three months before judging their effects.
(Disclaimer: Whether you are already taking prescription hormone replacement therapy and/or alternative menopausal remedies, the suggestions in this column are intended to be informational and by no means should be considered a substitute for advice from a medical or health professional, who should be consulted by the reader in matters relating to her health, and particularly in respect to any symptom that may require medical attention.)
