Health has been defined as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" according to the definition in use by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 1948.

Health is all about balance and I would like to share Sarah's story with you so that you can understand just how these concepts apply to your life as well.

Sarah is a 45 year old executive which presented to my office complaining of hot flashes, night sweats, extreme fatigue and an inability to achieve restful sleep at night. She also had low sex drive, crazy mood swings, weight gain & thinning hair. Overall, Sarah felt like quite the mess... and needed help to begin feeling healthy once again. Here was our discussion..

"Sarah, there’s very simple ways for restoring your sense of health & balance. It’s just a matter of testing for which hormones have gone out of balance & then restoring them to more youthful levels so you can regain that sense of HEALTH and youthful living once again.”

"If you will allow these 7 letters to guide you in remembering these ways in which you can begin healing your hormonal imbalances in the perimenopausal years, you'll be feeling much better very soon."

Here is what I taught Sarah about HEALTH that day..

* H is for The Hormonal Balancing Act
* E is for Eating Whole Grains, Seeds & Nuts
* E is also for Eating Fruits, Vegetables and for Exercising
* A is for Avoiding Junk: Sugar, Caffeine, Tobacco & Alcohol
* L is for Less Animal Proteins & Less Stress
* T is for Taking Adequate Amounts of Soy, Vitamins & Minerals
* H is for Hormonal Supplementation

The processing of our natural foods to prolonged shelf life requires extracting that which would make them perishable. Unfortunately, those are the very ingredients which hold all nutritional value. Our diets now consist of an excess of calorie dense foods like animal fat, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and refined carbohydrates while lacking in the whole grains, fruits & vegetables.

To make matters worse, food and agriculture are BIG business, and that goes for the animals bred for our food supply as well. To make the most profits, these stocks must be fed a fatty meal, pumped full of steroids, antibiotics and hormones to sustain them in the best of health during the worse of conditions. These are the very same products which we will consume through ingesting this produce. If you want to avoid these toxic xenoestrogens (substances which act like harmful hormones in our bodies) you must reduce your consumption of animal protein and only choose organic, grass fed and free range meats.

That's a mouthful. But  E IS IMPORTANT!

Try consuming only organic products as these are grown without the pesticides, chemical fertilizers and additives used by large, commercial farms. These farms ‘super size’ and alter your foods to make them LOOK more appealing. They over plant the land while growing our crops in mineral depleted soil. These products are more susceptible to pests & to disease, thus requiring more fertilizers & pesticides. Great for commercialism, toxic for you. 

Refined sugar is not RAW sugar that carries Vitamin B, fiber & enzymes essential for processing them through the body. You can not consume enough Vitamin B to process junk, refined sugars therefore this creates the B Vitamin deficiency that is so prevalent in our country.

Remember that you need this vitamin to process estrogen through the liver. It is also critical to your nervous system, while helping you cope with anxiety & stress.

Animal Proteins (meat) is very dense protein & takes a long time to digest. It is important that you reduce the amount of red meats.
If you must have it, only eat the organic meat, which is often called ‘free range’ meaning that the animal is allowed to graze on chemical free grass and has not ben pumped up with antibiotics or hormones. Also try fat free milk & cheese. Try veggie cheese instead of dairy cheese.

Vegetarians have half the incidence of coronary artery disease. They have a lower incidence of high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, arteriosclerosis & cancer.

Stress directly alters your hormones in an undesirable way. Long term, it raises your estrogen levels and this contributes to the perimenopausal symptoms, hot flashes, bleeding irregularities and increased risk of cancers.

Soybean has estrogen-like substances that can act like estrogen inside the perimenopausal woman’s body and alleviate lots of unpleasant symptoms. It is packed with phytoestrogens (plant estrogens) and isoflavins which give you the good benefits without the bad side effects of estrogens.

Cancers of the breast, uterus and prostate are lower in countries that use soy regularly. Whole soy foods include, hard tofu (better than soft), tempeh, soybeans, soy milk & other products made with soy.  Soy pills are unproven.

Synthetic estrogens are not the only choice when you are considering replacement therapy. But never take any hormones without testing for deficiencies first. The best test you can have is salivary testing because it reflects the level of hormone available inside of your cells (which is actually where your body needs it). ALso, be sure to have your physician monitor your levels periodically or if you have changes in the way that you are feeling.

I have lots more to share with you on this topic, please visit my site for the full article. You won't regret it! Learn how to apply these 7 simple concepts in your life and discomfort during peri menopause, menopause and andropause will be a thing of the past for you.

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Dr. Ana M. Hernandez, DO practicing physician is quick to share the latest medical news with her readers. Regain your health and hormonal balance and sign up for her medical tid-bits newsbriefs online.