Menopause and Bone Health

Ladies, I know how much we love to talk about menopause and bone health and all the wonderful changes our bodies go through (tongue in cheek!). Weight gain, insomnia, hormonal acne, hot flashes (check out my post on Hormone Hell) and the thought of bone mineral loss.

Peri- menopause starts in our 40’s (maybe earlier for some) and it is a fact that our estrogen levels begin to naturally decline as we leave those childbearing years. Menopause and bone health becomes very important as with the decrease of estrogen, our bodies compensate by pulling minerals from our bones. Great! Not only are we cold then hot, can’t sleep, gain weight but now we have to think about keeping our bones healthy so they don’t become frail and break.

Estrogen

Let’s go back to the beginning – Estrogen.

Collagen – What is it and Why we need it

Ladies, we are at that age (over 40) when we start to see more fine lines on our faces, hair is thinning and getting out of a chair brings the sounds of snap, crackle and pop! One of the reasons for this is COLLAGEN or the lack of it.

Collagen is the ‘glue’ that makes up a huge percentage of our skin, bones, muscles and tendons and this vital protein decreases as we age. Around the age of 25 we start to see a natural decline in our collagen levels and women see a drastic decline after menopause.

Yah for menopause!!

The following factors will contribute to a faster collagen decline:

• High sugar consumption
• Smoking
• Sunlight

But did you know that we can help lessen the decrease and help increase our collagen stores naturally??

Warning: This May Contain Hot Flashes

So there I was enjoying a dinner out with my husband and some friends, when this wave of warmth overwhelmed me.  What the heck??  Why am I all of a sudden hot with a side of slight nausea?  Is this my first hot flash?  How can it be, I am only 45…

 

And for those who know me, I am always cold..so this was weird for me.

Hormones are a funny thing, they sneak up on you when you are least expecting it.  Well with my background in holistic nutrition, I set on a mission to help my body work naturally through this natural change and lessen, if not eliminate the symptoms.