Do you want to know how to treat menopausal anxiety and depression?
If you follow these three easy Hormone Healing tips, you’re going to balance your menopausal moods naturally.
#1: Consider BHRT
Your Hypothalamus controls your moods by directing amino acids into your brain. Amino acids are the precursors to neurotransmitters. The biochemical messengers communicate joy, hope, anger, and fear. Consequently, all of your emotions. Your hormones affect which neurotransmitters your hypothalamus makes.
Think of depression and menopausal anxiety on a scale from one to ten. With couch potato, sleepy, unmotivated, sad, and depressive on one side. And a hyperactive, irritable, nervous, insomniac, anxious person on the other. Both ends of the mood spectrum are managed by serotonin and dopamine.
Estrogen is the joy hormone. Estrogen influences how much serotonin and dopamine your brain makes. Low levels of serotonin and dopamine are responsible for depression and anxiety. When your estrogen levels drop during menopause, your serotonin and dopamine levels are affected. You become sad and joyless. Bioidentical estrogen can help with depression. In fact, I have used estrogen for postpartum depression with excellent results. If you suffered from postpartum depression, you are at risk for perimenopausal and post-menopausal depression.
Progesterone is the calm hormone. Progesterone affects GABA production in the brain. GABA calms your hyperactive, overly stimulated brain. Bioidentical progesterone can help with anxiety.
Testosterone is the motivating hormone. Testosterone stimulates dopamine production and its conversion to norepinephrine which is brain adrenaline.
Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy or BHRT is a safe alternative to synthetic hormone replacement. However, I always recommend avoiding oral hormones to prevent blood clots. BHRT can be delivered transdermally (through the skin) or sublingually (under the tongue).
#2: Try Plant-Based Foods
Certain herbs have Hormonal effects. They may help quell menopausal anxiety and depression.
Firstly, Black cohosh is estrogenic. Meaning it creates an estrogen-like effect in the body and brain.
Secondly, Chasteberry is progestational. Meaning it creates a progesterone-like effect in the body and the brain.
Thirdly, Maca is androgenic. Meaning it creates a testosterone-like effect in the body and the brain.
Black cohosh root was first used by Native Americans and introduced to European colonists. Black cohosh can cause some mild side effects. Such as stomach upset, cramping, headache, rash, a feeling of heaviness, vaginal spotting or bleeding, and weight gain. High doses of black cohosh taken over a year may cause liver damage.
Chasteberry, also known as Vitex, is a shrub that is native to the Mediterranean and Central Asia. The fruit and seed are used to make medicine. Uncommon side effects include upset stomach, nausea, itching, rash, headaches, acne, trouble sleeping, and weight gain.
Maca is a plant that grows in central Peru in the high plateaus of the Andes Mountains. It has been cultivated as a vegetable crop in this area for at least 3000 years. Most importantly, its root is used to make medicine. Maca seems to be well tolerated by most people.
The doses for the herbs differ for each woman. According to how many endogenous hormones she’s still making from her adrenals. Therefore, be careful to get pure extracts of the herbs from reputable sources.
#3: Food is Medicine
In addition, you can help balance your hormones and your moods with food. Organic Whole Foods can help detoxify your body and allow the hormones still made by your adrenals to positively affect your moods. Too much sugar creates stress on the body, lowers the effectiveness of your hormones, and creates mood imbalances. Therefore, getting adequate protein and healthy fat is crucial for hormone and brain balance.
Mood elevating foods include complex carbohydrates. Like winter squash and whole grains like quinoa and oats. Serotonin-boosting proteins rich in tryptophan like turkey, tuna, soybeans, and yogurt help calm your anxiety. Protein found in meat, poultry, and fish also increases dopamine levels. Which helps alleviate depression. A wide variety of colorful fruits and vegetables provides the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and cofactors to help balance your brain chemistry and improve your moods.
But, even if you eat an organic locally grown balanced diet, it can be hard to get everything your hypothalamus needs to balance your hormones and your brain chemistry. Supplementing your diet with 3gm of Genesis Gold® for every fifty pounds of body weight provides the amino acids and phytonutrients needed to optimize Hypothalamic function.
Now you know how to elevate your moods naturally. But, it’s not easy going through menopause when the rest of your hormones are out of balance. So, I created the Hormone Reboot Training for you to discover how to balance all your hormones naturally. It’s free!
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