This post is for those of us who have to deal with this wonderful side effect of growing up. And, yes, hot flashes happen to women in their 40s (and sometimes 30s). Hot flashes are a nuisance, to put it mildly.
Hot
flashes are the most common complaint amongst menopausal women as between 60 to
85 percent of North American women experience one at some point in their
menopausal years. It's rare that hot flashes interfere with daily life; however,
turning bright red and sweating for no particular reason can be very embarassing in
certain situations. Hot flashes can also disrupt sleep and be accompanied by
headaches or nausea. But what exactly is a hot flash?
Surprise,
surprise. Like many other female-only issues, hormones are at the root of hot
flashes. During menopause your brain and body are trying to adjust to lower
estrogen levels that impact the balance and function of other hormones like
follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). This is a
really big adjustment that throws the thermostat of the body, the hypothamalus,
for a loop.
In fertile
women, low estrogen and progesterone levels signal the hypthamalus to send a
message to the pituitary gland to start stimulating the ovaries with FSH and LH
because its time to ovulate. But, in women who are ceasing to menstrate, the
ovaries cannot respond to the FSH and LH as well. At first, the hypothamalus doesn't understand
this and thinks the pituitary gland isn't getting the message. So it gets a
little distracted sending more messages to raise FSH and LH and get the ovaries
to release an egg.
Distracted
and confused, the hypothalamus sometimes makes mistakes in the thermoregulation
of the body – and a hot flash results.
While a
drop in estrogen is completely natural in the later years of a woman's life,
the associated problems can be prevented or diminished. (Case in point, hot
flashes are so rare in some Asian cultures that there is no word for “hot
flash” in Japanese.) The Traditional Asian diet is high in soy foods and their
isoflavones and low in saturated fat from animal foods.
Researchers
and nutritionists agree that this is the main reason why hot flashes, and
breast cancer, occur at much lower rates in these countries. The Standard
American Diet (SAD), on the other hand, promotes dramatic hormonal changes with high
amounts of animal fats, trans fats, sugar, alcohol and stimulants like
caffeine. All of these foods make hot flashes worse.
Are you looking to sail through the "big change"? Check out one of my programs or contact me for an appointment. I would be happy to skype or sit down with you to discuss diet and lifestyle to come up with a plan of action to grow with grace.
Source:
Leslie
Beck's Nutrition Guide to Menopause by Leslie Beck, RD. (2003)
