How our drinks can help Menopause Symptoms
October is Menopause Awareness Month. Every health organisation around is giving out information on the unwelcome symptoms of menopause.
Luckily for you, we’re giving out more than information- we’re giving out solutions!
What is menopause?
Put simply, menopause is the natural end of a woman’s reproductive cycle. Unlike men, who’s bodies create new sperm indefinitely, a woman is born with all their eggs. The ovaries produce the hormones oestrogen and progesterone, which control the monthly release of an egg during menstruation. As you age, your ovaries start to make less oestrogen. This starts to happen in your 40s, and is called perimenopause. Perimenopause can last anywhere between a few months to over 10 years, but in the last year or so, oestrogen levels fall faster, meaning most women start experiencing menopausal symptoms then. Perimenopause lasts until menopause, which is the point a year after your last period.
The average age of menopause in the UK is 51, although it’s not considered early menopause unless it’s before 45. Your ovaries no longer release any eggs, and have stopped making most -but never all- of their oestrogen. Once you have hit menopause, you are no longer able to fall pregnant. From then on out, you’re postmenopausal. Uncomfortable symptoms of menopause will thankfully start to ease, and you get to enjoy life with no more periods!
What are the symptoms of menopause?
Menopausal and perimenopausal symptoms are hugely varied and the level each woman will experience symptoms differs greatly. Here are some of the most commonly experienced symptoms, although remember, it’s unlikely you’ll suffer everything here!
Temperature Control
The hypothalamus is part of the brain that decides if the body is too hot and kickstarts ‘cool down’ mechanisms. As oestrogen levels drop, the hypothalamus does not get as much as it needs and so overproduces other neurochemicals such as norepinephrine. As the level of these neurotransmitters rise, the body is more easily triggered into thinking it is too hot. Hot flushes (this affects 75% of all women) and night sweats are common.
Gynaecological Changes
Oestrogen is primarily a reproductive hormone. Throughout perimenopause, falling oestrogen levels brings with it changes to the sex drive and reproductive organs:
Irregular periods (until complete cessation)
Vaginal dryness
Sore breasts
Urinal incontinence when coughing, sneezing, laughing, or otherwise straining (although it’s uncertain whether this is caused by menopause, or it’s a natural weakening of the pelvic floor muscles due to the aging process and the timing is just coincidental)
Decreased libido
Mental Health
As you progress through perimenopause, hormone levels do not drop in an easy, controlled manner. Instead, they fluctuate widely as your body compensates and overcompensates for various hormone changes. Oestrogen stimulates the production of serotonin, the ‘happy chemical’; low oestrogen means low serotonin. Conversely, testosterone levels rise. The imbalanced, constantly changing levels of hormones leads to a host of mood disorders:
Mood swings
Depression
Anxiety or panic attacks
Irritability
Cognitive Difficulties
Oestrogen really is key in quite a few processes, not all of them reproductive. It also helps regulate the use of sugar in the brain. Without this regulation, women often report ‘brain fog’. The hormone changes in perimenopause mimic certain points of the menstrual cycle, so if you were prone to headaches, or other cognitive complaints, during your periods, you’re likely to suffer them during menopause.
Poor memory
Difficulty concentrating
Dizziness and vertigo
Headaches
Poor sleep
Fatigue
Bone and Muscle Changes
Our body is constantly breaking down old bone and replacing it with new bone. Oestrogen is the key hormone responsible for promoting the creation of new bone. As oestrogen levels drop, osteoblasts do not produce as much bone. Unfortunately, the body’s process of breaking down old bone does not slow down. This can lead to osteoporosis as well as other musculoskeletal issues.
Joint pain
Muscle aches
Low bone density (prone to breaks)
Other Symptoms of Menopause
Other common symptoms of perimenopause include hair loss, brittle nails, and dry, itchy skin.
Changes in hormone levels often leads to weight gain, as well as digestive issues such as constipation, indigestion, diarrhoea, or bloating. Some women even develop new food allergies or intolerances!
How can Booyah Vitality help to manage menopause symptoms?
That was a whole lot of information, now, as promised, are the solutions.
Each of our drinks contain ingredients which are known to combat symptoms suffered during the menopause transition.
How can Kombucha help with menopause?
In the gut lives a delicately balanced colony of helpful, live bacteria. This is known as the gut microbiome or gut flora. Within the gut microbiome is a specific collection of bacteria that has been coined the estrobolome. The estrobolome is responsible for regulating oestrogen levels by converting oestrogen into forms which can enter the bloodstream, reach tissues it needs to, and getto work protecting the body from oestrogen related diseases. The gut microbiome itself is affected by oestrogen levels; as levels drop, the diversity of healthy bacteria in the gut also diminishes.
This becomes a bit of a vicious cycle; oestrogen damages the gut microbiome, which limits the ability of the estrobolome to regulate oestrogen, which in turn damages the gut….
In steps kombucha to the rescue!
As you may know, kombucha is absolutely brimming with natural probiotics. You can read our blog to find out more about probiotics, but the simple version is probiotics are live micro-organisms which restore healthy bacteria in the gut flora. By keeping the gut healthy, the estrobolome is able to better modulate what little oestrogen is still produced, and therefore help protect against diseases that stem from low oestrogen levels, such as digestive issues, osteoporosis, and even breast cancer.
On top of everything else it seems to be involved in; oestrogen helps to reduce inflammation in the body. When oestrogen levels drop, inflammation can become a real problem, leading to digestive issues, muscle pains, and a compromised immune system. The natural probiotics in kombucha are fab for combating inflammation.
Another great reason to drink our kombucha is the organic green tea it is made with.
Green tea is great at combating a number of menopausal symptoms. The catechins in green tea instigate thermogenesis. This is where the body produces heat and burns extra calories. These catechins also alter the gut biome to inhibit carbohydrate digestion and absorption- both helpful effects that aid in weight loss.
Specifically for postmenopausal women, daily green tea consumption drastically increases the amount of oestrogen that is metabolised by the body rather than discarded in urine. With the little oestrogen you’re working with, post-menopause, it’s definitely important to encourage metabolism of as much as possible!
Another benefit of our green tea based kombucha is an increase in bone health. Women can lose up to 20% of their bone density in just the five years following menopause, leading to osteoporosis, or bone fragility.
Green tea has been shown to both inhibit the breakdown of old bone, and promote the activity of osteoblasts in creating new bone. This means your bones will be stronger and less prone to the fractures that often come hand in hand with age.
How can Turmeric Shots help with menopause?
How do you minimise uncomfortable symptoms that are caused by low oestrogen levels?
Make your body think its oestrogen is higher than it actually is! In comes curcumin. Curcumin is the main active compound in turmeric, and is what gives it the distinctive yellow colour. Curcumin is a phytoestrogen. This is a naturally occurring compound found in particular plants that mimics the effects of oestrogen when ingested.
By producing oestrogen-like effects, curcumin has been shown to reduce the severity and frequency of hot flashes- the main complaint of perimenopause! It helps improve memory and concentration by combating brain sugar deregulation.
The phytoestrogen triggers production of serotonin, lowering testosterone levels, meaning mood swings are not as severe, and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress are lowered.
Basically, any menopausal symptom that springs from having low levels of oestrogen can be helped by consuming turmeric. This covers everything from cognitive to gynaecological, and all areas in between.
Not only is curcumin a phytoestrogen, but it also has natural anti-inflammatory properties.
Inflammation is the cause of joint and muscle pain, as well as digestive issues- all things turmeric helps fight.
On top of that, turmeric is analgesic, meaning it’s a natural painkiller. The symptoms of menopause can be uncomfortable and even painful. Thankfully, a turmeric shot can help!
Can Kombucha and Turmeric Shots help ease menopause symptoms?
Short answer; yes.
Long answer; even more yes!
Don’t suffer your symptoms in silence. If you’re not sure what or how much to drink, drop by and have a chat with us. We’re always happy to help!