During the filming of the second season of our show Vive web, we dedicated an episode to the celebration of femininity in all its forms and it was in the company of Véronique Bourbeau, naturopath, and Marie-Hélène Viau from the organization Seréna Québec that we addressed the subject of menopause.
Many of you are wondering about natural solutions for getting through the cycles of femininity smoothly and are worried about observations that increasingly demonstrate endocrine disruptions, premature menstruation or menopause, cancers, etc.
According to Véronique, "the state in which we enter menopause is a reflection of how we have lived the last 10-15 years" preceding this phase. She emphasizes that there are three important lifelines when we enter menopause: the adrenals, and therefore the way we manage stress, the intestines, and the liver. If one of these three pillars is weakened by stress or conflict, the impact will be measurable on how we experience menopause. Since it usually occurs around the age of 55, we can therefore begin preparing the ground from the age of 35.
Today's thirties and forties are not what they used to be. Women today are raising families while pursuing careers and are giving birth later and later... It is with exhausted adrenals that they enter menopause. However, it is these glands, which at this stage of our cycle, have the capacity to promote hormonal balance. Stress is therefore an important factor that will "steal hormonal balance, which causes it to deviate."
To recognize the symptoms of adrenal glands: Burnout, exhaustion, constant fatigue, chronic inflammation, faltering thyroid…
On this subject, Marie-Hélène emphasizes the importance of the period preceding menopause, perimenopause, the phase where changes begin. When well connected to her body, a woman can see them coming and prepare to welcome them. Although today it is increasingly common to observe that families begin at 35, it is also at this age that hormonal decline accelerates.
When already in menopause, several options presented by Véronique are available to us: Medicinal plants (see this article where she describes several) whose power is not to be neglected, the pharmacopoeia having been inspired by them… It is by observing the animal kingdom that we came to synthesize and reproduce molecules… Even today, 40% of the medicines used are derived from plants. Be careful, we are not taking anything away from traditional medicine here, we want to combine the two for optimal health.
There are numerous studies that prove that the choices we make, what we ingest, what we apply to our skin, our lifestyle, will have a direct impact on our hormonal cycles and the symptoms that result from them.
Marie-Hélène invites women, while they are still in the period when they do not want to conceive, the period when oral contraceptives are usually taken, to think about their fertility! When we take oral contraceptives, it is a whole part of our hormonal reality on which we put a temporary stopper and forget that it is good to take care of it. Once ready to conceive, we stop taking oral contraceptives and quickly, we ask our body to be ready. However, fertility is a fragile hormonal balance that is part of a larger hormonal system, the endocrine system. So all the choices we make, and even those made by our parents, have an impact on this balance…. Taking care of ourselves today also means taking care of our descendants!
All the information contained in this article is not intended to replace justified allopathic treatment or to override the expertise of the medical profession. It is up to each individual to take charge of their own health, to inform themselves, and to make the necessary changes to improve their condition. Therapeutic supervision by a qualified health professional is strongly recommended.
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