This is the advice relating to Herbal Remedies produced by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (part of the UK Department of Health).
• Remember that herbal remedies are medicines. As with any other medicine they should be used with care.
• Any medicine – herbal or otherwise – has the potential to have adverse effects.
• Before you take any herbal medicine you need to be sure it is the correct product for you.
• Remember that natural does not mean safe. Many plants can be poisonous to humans. Many pharmaceutical medicines have been developed from plants because of the powerful compounds they contain.
• Herbal remedies can interact with other medicines. This could result in the other medicines having reduced or enhanced effects, including side-effects. When consulting your doctor or pharmacist about your health always tell them about any herbal medicines you are taking.
• As with all medicines, keep herbal medicines out of the sight and reach of children.
Menopause Articles
General Advice About Herbal Remedies
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008Aromatherapy
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008Aromatherapy is one of the most pleasurable alternative therapies available.
In one form or another it has been around for centuries, although the term itself is relatively modern, dating back to the 1920’s.
The Greeks and Roman’s used aromatic oils and burnt scented herbs to relax themselves and, as with herbal remedies, there has long been a belief that the use of such oils can have positive impact on a variety of conditions.
Some of the most obvious features of the menopause are the erratic behavior of the circulatory system, leading to hot flushes, and the emotional stresses and strains caused both by variations to hormone levels and also by the emotional impact of the changes related to this time of life.
There are many claims that aromatherapy can help relieve menopausal symptoms and, again as with herbal remedies, opinion is split between those who feel that they can get real benefits through aromatherapy and those who don’t.
One thing is absolutely unarguable and that is that aromatherapy can help you to ease out those stresses by helping you to relax and in doing so can make you feel a lot better about life in general.
Using Aromatherapy Oils
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008Depending on the selection of oils and their blending you can help to alleviate frequent mood swings and emotional reactions which are often associated with the menopause such as restlessness, tension, listlessness, fearfulness, anxiety and loss of self-esteem by inducing relaxation, calmness and equilibrium.
We have two types of oils at Embrace the Change; Essential Oils and Carrier Oils.
Essential oils are fragrant oils extracted from plants using steam, solvents or pressure. They are very concentrated and have to be used either by burning or, if applied to the skin, must be mixed with water in a bath or a carrier oil to dilute them.
Carrier oils are typically plant based oils that dilute essential oils for use on the skin. The carrier oils we offer are Sweet Almond oil which is rich in vitamin E to nourish the skin and has anti-ageing qualities, and Grapeseed oil which leaves the skin feeling silky smooth without being too greasy.
The Essential Oils we have chosen are claimed to ease menopausal symptoms.
When starting out, it’s best to choose three or four essential oils to experiment with but remember you’ll also need to purchase a carrier oil if you plan to apply them to your skin..
You can use essential oils in a number of ways:
- Add a few drops of an essential oil directly to your oil burner and let the aroma fill your room!
- Add 6 drops to a warm bath and soak for 15 minutes. Always agitate the water well before getting in. If mixing more than one oil, you can use up to 8 drops in total.
- Massage is one of the best ways to enjoy aromatherapy due to the added benefit the massage brings. To make a massage oil, place 20ml of a carrier oil like sweet almond oil or grapeseed oil in a saucer or bottle. Add 10 drops in total of one or up to four different aromatherapy oils. Massage directly into the skin.
Aromatherapy Recipes
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008There are a number of books explaining the background to aromatherapy and suggesting a wide variety of recipes. Our recommendation is Aromatherapy An A-Z.
We have also put together two Aromatherapy Sets to help with hot flushes and day & night sweats – here are the recipes which you can buy from the Natural Therapies section:
“Hot Flushes” Aromatherapy recipe
- 5 drops clary sage
- 5 drops geranium
- 3 drops lemon
- 2 drops sage
- Blend into 30ml of carrier oil and use as a massage oil or in the bath.
“Day & Night Sweats” Aromatherapy recipe
- 5 drops grapefruit
- 5 drops lime
- 3 drops sage
- 2 drops thyme
- Blend into 30ml of carrier oil and use as a massage oil or in the bath.
Aromatherapy is also one of the safest alternative medicines to be found. The only rules are never apply any essential oil directly onto the skin and never take the oils internally. The safest way to use them is in an oil burner, in the bath or as a massage oil.
Food and the Menopause
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008Food is one of those subjects which seems to be constantly at the centre of some worrying story or another. If you slavishly followed every piece of advice you heard you’d probably exist on a diet of purified water and organic celery – until you wasted away or lost any further enthusiasm for life!
Not to say that there isn’t a lot of good advice out there but a lot of the research reported in the media seems to be presented in an unbalanced way to make a more exciting story.
For example after a recent scare about eating bacon and red meat one of the UK’s top cancer specialists said the advice was “too trite and too dogmatic” and warned “no one will do it”.
He added: “Alcohol, red meat and bacon in moderation will do us no harm and to suggest they will is wrong. I don’t intend to give up my Sunday roast and glass of wine.”
The most sensible advice is probably that a varied, balanced diet avoiding too much fat, taking everything in moderation and nothing in excess will work pretty well for you through much of your life.
However, there are periods where that balance could be adjusted as the chemistry of your body changes. Pregnancy and Menopause are both good examples of such periods.
During Menopause you need to adjust your diet to reflect the changes that are going on in the chemistry of your body.
If you already have a healthy, balanced diet most of these changes involve eating things that you’ll already eat, just in slightly different proportions – if your diet is not so great then changing it for a more healthy one will do you good all round!
See some of our suggestions in the Recipes for the Menopause section.
You also need to think about how frequently you eat.
It’s recommended that you try and eat smaller meals, but more eat more frequently.
You should aim to eat around every 4 hours during the day which will help to keep your blood sugar levels more stable and you should also make sure you drink plenty of water to keep your hydration levels up.