I decided I wasn’t going to take hormone replacement therapy — HRT. I was going to go au natural. Just head into the wind — the hot wind of being a mature woman, now past my child-bearing years. Notice I don’t say menopause, it’s such a negative word.
I read that Phytoestrogens may reduce and prevent the incidence of osteoporosis. This is good news if you don’t want to take drugs such as hormones. You need strong bones, but unfortunately, as you age there is a tendency for bones to become fragile — you actually lose bone. That’s called osteoporosis. Osteo for bone and porosis for porous. The bones get porous. (Men get it too, but not as often.)
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| Good Bone and Bad Bone (Osteoporosis) |
Estrogen has a protective action in keeping your bones strong. Given that estrogen levels fall as you age and enter menopause, chances are your bones will become less dense. In the past, HRT (hormone replacement therapy) was the norm. But not anymore. I decided that I wouldn’t take HRT after my mom took it for 20 years and got breast cancer. So no drugs for me. HRT protects bones, but increases the risk of breast and endometrial cancer, as well as heart disease.
One option that is showing positive results is the addition of phytoestrogens in your diet. These are plants/foods (phyto) that act like natural estrogen in your body — either by increasing estrogen or blocking excess estrogen. It has two effects. No side effects either.
The most common phytoestrogens (plant estrogens) are called isoflavones, lignans, and coumestans.
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| Soy Products |
Isoflavones are found in soy, peanut, sunflower seed, walnut and clover.
Lignans are found in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and flax seeds.
Coumestans are found in legumes, alfalfa sprouts, clover, soybean sprouts, brussel sprouts, and spinach.
Studies have found that show eating 40-100 mg of isoflavones per day have benefits.
