Many of the plants and botanical products which are most useful to women during menopause are rich in phyto-sterols or plant hormones. Phyto-sterols have a molecular structure which is akin to the body’s own hormones and they can be converted to human hormones in the laboratory (birth control pills are based on phyto-sterols extracted from wild yam roots) or in your body.
The herbalist Susun Weed places great importance on the use of these plants during menopause: “Using plants rich in phyto-sterols is remarkably different from taking hormones, even natural/bio-identical ones used by menopausal women. Phyto-sterols provide hormonal building blocks, rather than hormones themselves, thus allowing you to create the precise amounts (and combinations) of hormones needed on your unique menopause journey”. Note that the phyto-sterol building blocks in plants can be used to decrease hormones (they bind to the receptor sites) as well as increase hormones (by conversion in the liver).
Phyto-oestrogens are plant-based compounds or sterols that have been found to be beneficial in combatting symptoms and conditions caused by oestrogen deficiency. Here are some ways phyto-oestrogens may be able to help:
- reduce hot flushes
- regulate menstrual issues
- reduce acne
- support heart health
- support bone health
- ease brain fog/memory loss
Unlike highly concentrated chemical hormones and drugs, plant hormones work gently and holistically with the body – many of the non-steroid components of a particular herb will support the actions of the active phyto-sterols. The body’s access to phyto-sterols is increased when glycosides, saponins, minerals and flavonoids are also present in a plant.
Plant sterols are also known to act either indirectly or directly on the cells of the connective tissue including bone cells. This may be one of the reasons why postmenopausal women living on processed foods – which are very low in sterol hormones – have a significantly higher level of arthritis and osteoporosis than other women.
Doctors from John Bastyr College in Seattle are enthusiastic about the use of plant-based sterols as opposed to conventional drug oestrogens in the treatment of female ailments including osteoporosis: “Menopausal women commonly receive oestrogen to help allay the hot flushes, nausea, bone loss and other symptoms of this decrease in the body’s natural hormone level. While generally effective both synthetic and natural oestrogen may pose significant health risks including the risk of cancer, gallbladder disease and thromboembolic disease. Phyto-oestrogens have not been associated with these side-effects.”
When beginning a regime of ERT (or HRT), it is common to spend months adjusting the dosages of oestrogen (and progesterone) until the balance is right. And, since the same dose is taken every day, even though our need for hormones varies daily, there is the stress of eliminating excess oestrogen. Excess oestrogen unarguably promotes (but does not initiate) breast and reproductive cancers.
Phyto-sterols in Herbs
According to the herbalist Susun Weed physto-sterols are most concentrated in perennial roots (such as dandelion and ginseng), leaf buds (such as briar rose and blackcurrant) and hard berries (such as vitex and saw palmetto). In her book Menopausal Years the Wisewoman Way she writes: ”even erratic use of phytosterol-rich plants during the early menopausal years will help nourish your ovaries, adrenals, and pituitary, creating a smoother passage to your Crones Crowning”. Weed divides herbs into those which balance oestrogen production and those which balance progesterone production:
- Hormone balancing herbs which promote oestrogen production include: Alfalfa, red clover, black cohosh, hops, liquorice, sage, and pomegranate seeds. These are best to use if your menstruation is scanty, early or irregular.
- Hormone-balancing herbs that promote progesterone production: chaste tree/vitex, sarsaparilla, wild yam, yarrow. These are best when menopausal menses come too frequently.
Renowned Homeopath Hilery Dorian uses a blend of 4 herbs in her ‘Menomix’ which she dispenses to her menopausal patients for use alongside their homeopathic prescription. The herbs wild yam, black cohosh, vitex/chastetree and red clover are combined in equal proportions. She advises women to start with a very low dose: 5 mls a day which is a tiny amount in comparison with standard recommended doses of herbs. She recommends that if you are not seeing good results within 10 days to double the dose and use small amounts incrementally until you get to that tipping point where you feel “this is making a difference”.
Many Homeopaths now prescribe Homeobotanical blends of potentised herbs which are also very low dosages and can be combined safely with other treatments both natural and allopathic. The Menophase Homeobotanical blend contains ashwaghanda, black cohosh, blue berries, dong quai, flaxseed, mama, oats, pomegranate, red clover and turmeric.
Phyto-oestrogens in Food
Many soya based foods contain plant sterols or phytoestrogens which have a weak oestrogen activity. These include: tofu, miso, tempeh and Tamari. By acting in a similar way to oestrogen, they may help significantly by keeping our hormones in a much better balance. A high intake of phyto-oestrogens is thought to explain why hot flushes and other menopausal symptoms rarely occur in populations consuming a predominantly plant-based diet. You can increase Increase your intake of phyto-oestrogens by eating more of the following foods:
- Organic soya products, including tofu, tempeh and miso,
- Nuts and seeds: flax seed, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, linseeds, sunflower seeds, raw nuts, sprouted seeds and grains.
- Vegetables such as celery, rhubarb, fennel, broccoli and cabbage carrots
- Legumes: green beans, peas, lentils, mung beans, split peas, chick peas and other pulses
- Grains such as rye, barley, oats and wheatgerm
- Alfalfa sprouts
- Yams
- Fruits: Apples, pomegranates, cranberries, strawberries, berries, grapes
- Bee pollen
In her book Passage to Power, Leslie Kenton writes: “Research shows that Oriental women who eat a lot of these foods have very little trouble with hot flushes around the time of menopause and afterwards. They also have very little trouble with any other menopausal symptoms, apparently because the weak oestrogen which the foods contain bind with the oestrogen-receptor sites and protect them from the negative effects of circulating oestrogen in the body and from xenoestrogens from the environment. “
When weak oestrogen from plants bind with receptor sites they also help protect the body from both negative hormone and hormone-like influences by encouraging the elimination of these ‘bad’ sterols and allowing the body to readjust its own hormonal balance naturally. The vitamins, minerals and phystosterols can bring to a woman’s diet a supply of photo-hormones sufficient to mitigate most of the female symptoms that plague us in industrialised countries. Kenton argues that a change in diet to include these products can have a significant effect:
“Such dietary change is not some wishful action to carry out in the hope that it just might make a little change to your life. In a study carried out in Britain where women were switched to a diet rich in phyto-hormones derived from soya-flour, red clover sprouts and flaxseed oil, researchers reported the menopausal symptoms of 25 women were significantly reduced by such alterations alone. In another study carried out in Scandinavia and reported on in the Lancet three years ago, researchers discovered that Japanese women who eat large quantities of phyo-sterol-rich foods including soya products (who, you will recall, also have a very low incidence of breast and uterine cancer and experience very few menopausal or menstrual problems) eliminate an astounding 1000 times as many phytoestrogens in their urine as do Finnish women. In effect their bodies have become saturated with photo-hormones which both trigger the elimination of the bad sterols and also spill themselves over as waste. With this kind of photo-oestrogen intake researchers reported the risk of breast cancer is only a fifth what it is among American women on a typical Western diet.”
So as you can see photo-sterols are definitely something it’s important to be aware of as we go through the menopause and something that can help make the passage through the transitional years much smoother and more comfortable. We can use herbal blends and make some simple dietary changes that incorporate the plants mentioned above and this will give us a good foundation upon which to tackle any menopause symptoms which remain.