Aging and Hormonal Health...What You Need to Know

From the 1960s, estrogen-replacement therapy was common for menopausal American women until 2002 when the Women’s Health Initiative study linked these drugs to higher cancer and blood clot risks. As a result, millions stopped taking them without alternatives. Suzanne Somers came along and popularized "bioidentical" hormones, marketed them as natural alternatives to synthetic versions.

Her core message was simple: Hormone replacement therapy is life-changing! She claimed having sex twice a day and credited hormones for her smooth skin, absence of hot flashes, and "substantially reversing the aging process." This theme centered on “bioidenticals,” which Somers passionately endorsed.

People often think of bioidentical hormones as “all-natural.” They’re not. Actually, they are created in laboratories. However, unlike synthetic hormones, they are chemically identical to those your body produces. So, they’re like your body’s hormone doubles. Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) is offered to come to your aid when your body’s natural hormone production is out of whack. 

But these hormones can have side effects. We’re talking weight gain and blurred vision, among the most common. Also, people often report digestive side effects, along with diarrhea and nausea.

Why not try balancing your hormones with diet and lifestyle changes instead? Regretfully, once you’re on hormone replacement therapy, this might be easier said than done. I get emails from people hoping to stop their hormone replacement therapy. Here’s an example…

I was on bioidentical hormones for 17 years. I had to stop—terrible constipation and stomach issues while on it. I tried lower doses—same results. Since I’ve been off, my sleep has been horrible. Dry vag. Dry all over. I think the hormones have messed me up.

An analogy comes to mind. A drug addict trying to stop his addiction. When a person uses drugs like opioids, their body gets used to the extra supply and lowers its own production of natural painkillers and feel-good chemicals. It’s as if the body gets lazy…

Why do all this extra work, if there’s an outside source of these chemicals?

This is why, when drug use stops, the person can experience pain and discomfort, as the body isn’t producing enough natural anesthetics to compensate.

The same way, any hormone replacement, natural or synthetic, will cause the body to slow down production of its own hormones, including melatonin, DHEA, progesterone and human growth hormone. If you stop HRT abruptly, you may experience symptoms of estrogen withdrawal. That's why women are advised to taper off hormone replacement therapy gradually, reducing doses slowly over a period that may take months.

I cannot say whether bioidentical hormones are helpful or not. I don't know. I have never taken them. I will only tell you why I never considered using them. Let us get it straight: Suzanne made a decision to take natural hormones because she had every menopause symptom in the book. And the “healthy cooking” she promoted before her fascination with bioidentical hormones apparently did not help enough.

Suzanne Somers died last year at the age of 76. The cause of death was breast cancer that had metastasized to her brain. She had been battling an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years. She obviously wholeheartedly believed in bioidentical hormones. She might not have lived as long as she did without them. Who knows, it maybe in her situation it was a right cause of action.  However, this doesn't mean the protocol will work for everyone else. It's definitely not my way. 

Your Menopause and Raw Foods

I’m not a doctor. So, I can’t say you should go on hormone replacement therapy or not. I’m simply saying it’s quite possible to be without it and have no need for it. Raw foods—you guessed it—are my solution.

When women eat mostly raw vegan foods, hot flashes, irritability, breast tenderness, dryness, water retention, and sleeping disorders all disappear or never start. My menopause was totally uneventful. No symptoms at all! More in the article Menopause and Raw Foods.

The best proof for me that raw foods work best for health, appearance, and slowing aging is that I've maintained about the same weight effortlessly for the last 28 years. And at 66, I can focus on my daily dance practice, fulfilling my dream to dance, without being plagued by postmenopausal symptoms. 

There is one particularly obvious postmenopausal symptom that is not often discussed openly, if ever.

As men and women age and certain hormones become imbalanced, often deficient, a strange phenomenon sometimes takes place. Men and women actually begin to strongly resemble the opposite sex.

You’ve seen them…women whose broadening bodies and faces take on a vaguely masculine look …and men whose appearance   loses its masculine edge, softening to a kind of slightly feminine look. After menopause, women often begin to exhibit the thicker “matronly” characteristics of later middle age. 

Meanwhile, men begin to exhibit lax muscle tone, a paler skin and many even develop breasts. This, I believe, is one major reason that it’s challenging to find attractiveness in people over fifty. They begin to lose the distinguishing feminine and masculine features so prevalent during their younger years when hormones are at their peak.

For more information on how to balance your hormones naturally and how to avoid the opposite-sex resemblance that comes with age, read my book Quantum Eating.

As we age, we tend to "lose" our faces. The loss of fat, muscle, bone density, and collagen contributes to thinning skin. It's essential to condition your skin daily to help maintain its health and resilience.

My skincare program is based on these five pillars (more in my ebook Guide to an Ageless Face):

• dietary upgrade

• cleansing (internal and external)

• hydration (internal and external)

• exfoliation

• stimulation/decompression

In the video: (Strigil Scrapping + Gavel Tapping)