• If you have 40 (or especially if you have 100 pounds to lose), you certainly don’t want a healthy weight coach telling you to eat carrots and go for a 6-mile run! 
• If you’re taking meds for a condition and just having an awful time with the side effects, you certainly don’t want someone telling you it’s easy to change your life, become a whole food plant-eater and get off all your meds in 6 weeks!
• And if you’re in throws of peri-menopause, you don’t want someone who is already beyond that telling you how easy it is to get through because it’s not. (You also don’t have to “just live with it.” But that’s another conversation for another time.)

So today I want to talk about some simple routines that can easily become habits. Routines that will benefit your overall wellness whether you’re in the prime of life, you’re 90, or anywhere in between.

Now whether you adopt these simple routines or others is on you. I’ll tell you why I’ve adopted them and that may spur you on.

These are 5 simple routines, parts of my morning ritual. I adopted them because they give me a routine in the morning that I can easily knock out without even thinking about it. A routine that isn’t difficult or long. It gets me up and moving, just a little. So, no matter how sedentary the rest of the day turns out, I’ve gotten in both some stretching and some strengthening.

It gets some important nutrients & anti-inflammatory foods into me. So it starts my day out right before I can ruin it by deciding to eat something I’d be better off without. 

So what are these 5 simple routines? And more importantly, how do I adopt into my day in a way that’s simple and effective at making them routine?

1. Water: More than any other habit, drinking enough water is one that I’ve always struggled with. Lately, I’ve adopted the routine suggested by a friend (who is NOT a health care person, go figure!) that really works for me.
   In the evening before bed every night, I fill a jar (mine is 1.5 quarts but if you’re buying one, I suggest 2 quarts) with water & I throw in a lemon sliced up. And it goes in the frig. In the morning, the first thing I do when I go to the kitchen pulls that out of the frig., pour a full glass & down it. Then I leave the jar on the counter. My “job” is to finish that by 3 pm. And preferably refill it & continue drinking.
2. Maca: Maca is a root plant, native to the Andes Mountains, that has some adaptogenic properties to it. An adaptogen is a naturally occurring substance that provides a wide array of nutrients that help your body’s overall balance. Maca is thought to help the reproductive organs of older people balance. After my water, I add 2 teaspoons of maca powder to a small amount of diluted pomegranate juice (it has additional nutrients) along with #3 below.
3. Ginger & turmeric: These are both anti-inflammatory & have an array of antioxidants & other nutrients. I keep a container mixed 50:50 of these powders on the counter. Everyday, I add a ½ teaspoon to my juice/water/maca mix & whisk it to dissolve. I drink this & take my other morning supplements with it.
4. Stretching: I have a routine that involves 4 different hip stretches (all directions to get all muscles) and a couple of torso stretches. These, when done daily, really help me feel like I am much more youthful, limber, and energetic than what my chronological age would usually indicate.
5. Strengthening: Now I don’t do a lot of strengthening! Most who know me know I HATE exercising indoors. I don’t have a gym membership. But I know core strength is one key to balance. And I know that balance becomes an issue as we age. (though the truth is, most often seniors fall because the drugs they are on affect their balance) So, I do 25 crutches and am starting to add other core work to that. I also do some push-ups. I literally started with 10; on my knees; not even full push-ups. I tell you this because the point is you start with what you can do. Can’t do crunches? Start by just lifting your head & shoulders as high as you can & doing 10-15 of them. It’s still engaging your core. Then build from there.

The point here is simple:

Whether it’s with your diet, exercise, or any other aspect of your well-being, simply begin by doing a little better each day.

Thinking that someone to guide you & hold you accountable might be helpful?
You can take the first small step with 30 days of my inspirational texting service for FREE!

Simply text the word “wellness” to 41259 from your phone and follow the prompts.

Or if you know you need more, set up a time to talk.

The post Simple Routines to Promote Wellness appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

The trick is in quieting down your hormones.

And the magic is in combination of addressing what’s on the end of your fork, your gut microbiome, and more.

Included in the more is also addressing the things in your life that are stressing you out. Surprise. Surprise.

SImply said, it’s not one thing because it’s not caused by just one thing.

In working with clients (and back when I was making my own personal changes as well), I’ve found that addressing those 3 issues, food, the gut microbiome and controllable  stresses are the keys for most women.

Working with these issues together, a woman can often see some change in a matter of just a few weeks. Though it does take longer to relearn the patterns of eating, behavior, and response that will bring about a long term permanent change.

And for some, we do need to go deeper. For others, it can take longer because other health issues can complicate matters.

But this is just to let you know that there is a natural approach that doesn’t involve just waiting for it to go away. There is a natural approach that doesn’t involve slathering hormone creams over your body or taking a handful of pills. 

It’s an approach that’s about being intentional with how you eat, how you take care of yourself and how you deal with stress.

You can read a little tongue-in-cheek of my own experience here https://www.drlesliek.com/2020/12/30/resolve-menopause-madness/

And set up a time to talk: http://callDrLeslie.com 

The post Menopause & Mental Health: A Natural Approach appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

By the time Monday came around (my birthday was on a Thursday), I was feeling just a bit bloated and sluggish.

So I returned my clean whole food plant-based eating.  In a couple of days I felt much better.

And I realized I should probably do a little cleanse before the holidays.

That got me thinking about you. And getting you to join me.

Many people throw their healthy eating habits out the window over the holidays.

The average American gains 7 or more lbs. Between Thanksgiving and New Years!

All that effort all year, wasted! Back to square #1.

You can change that for yourself this year by joining my 30-Day Wellness Challenge for the month of October.

Up the ‘ante’ on that healthy eating habit. Or, at least, take the first step.

Maybe you want to: 

• get a handle on that salt or sugar craving    
• address the mood swings    
• reduce your blood pressure or HbA1C    
• find simple answers to hot flashes  
• get some resolve with an ever-expanding midline 

The 30-Day Wellness Challenge will help you go into the holiday season with a fresh lease on your health. You’ll have a new level of awareness & confidence. It’ll be far easier to keep a healthy attitude through the holidays.

You’ll be much more likely to bring that yummy but healthy artichoke dip to the party instead of the cheese and mayo one!

And I’ll provide you with the recipe! It’s not on my website. ; )

30 Days of healthy eating. Simple clean whole food, cleansing smoothies, and tasty salad recipes in my e-book.

Learn the basic what and why of cleansing. 4 short lessons (audios) covering food, exercise, gut health, and your environment over the first week.

Get your questions answered. Meet other health conscious women. Live group Zoom meetings in the Facebook private group weekly. 

Challenges! Weekly workout challenges (competitive and noncompetitive divisions)!

Stay motivated. My texting service  will deliver diet, exercise & inspirational messages to you 3 times per week. 

And more.

The program runs October 4-November 3.

Registration starts on September 15, 2021. Guarantee your spot by contacting me now. 

The post Birthday Celebrations followed by Wellness Challenge appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

I wish I had found them sooner than I did. It would’ve saved a ton of aggravation. 

As women in our society, we tend to think we have no control over it. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I hope you’re not one of THOSE women:

You know, the ones with all the symptoms, including threatening to string up their kids for insignificant things.

Can’t blame them. They’re at their wit’s end.

But too many of them are convinced they have no power over it.

They think they just have to suffer through in silence (or with screaming) until they get through it. And that’s just not true.

So today, let’s move beyond the complaining and suffering to some solutions.

I’m going to start with the solutions on the end of your fork.

Because it turns out that there are many foods that have phytoestrogens that will help us regulate hormones.

But there’s a big difference between the phytoestrogens in plants and the estrogens in animal-based foods.

The estrogens in animal-based foods (dairy, chicken, eggs, and more) behave like our own estrogen, only stronger. So they can have adverse effects.

As we move into perimenopause, we need compounds that gently bind to our estrogen receptors but have less estrogenic activity.
This decreases our perimenopause symptoms and also has a positive effect on other systems throughout the body. Phytoestrogens have a variety of positive effects systemically.  They even decrease the likelihood of hormone-related cancers.

So here are 5 foods that are high in phytoestrogens:

1. Legumes: Basically all beans but soy and whole soy products like tempeh and tofu are probably the most concentrated. Organic unsweetened soy milk is also a great source.
2. Nuts: Again, almost any kind of nuts
3. Seeds: especially flax seeds
4. Wheat berries: You can prepare wheat berries similarly to how you would prepare rice. They are nutty chewy alternative.
5. Pomegranates: Many fruits also have varying amounts of phytoestrogens. Pomegranates are one such fruit.

A couple of things to note here:

These products are great for everyone, even guys.

Men have estrogen and estrogen binding sites as well. Because of the way phytoestrogens bind to those sights, phytoestrogens are thought to be advantageous for men too.

This brings up another point: phytoestrogens are typically much better at helping us achieve balance. Prescription hormones, the alternative, may be too concentrated.

And there is very little concern that you can overdo any of the food-source phytoestrogens.

Getting 1-3 servings of these foods into your body on a daily basis can start to make a difference.

In my next blog article, I’ll address Xenoestrogens. They are chemicals in our environment that mimic estrogen and can have horrendous effects on our metabolism.

In the meantime, get in touch if I can help.

The post Take Control of Your Perimenopause Woes appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

Your hormones are likely playing a pivotal role whether you’re perimenopausal (or even female) or not. But there’s a lot more you can do about it than you think.

Though the graphic is highly over-simplified, from it you can get a sense that there are things you can do to make a difference.

But where do you start?

Today I’ll suggest 5 things:

1. Eat more whole food:

WHole food helps to feed the good guys of your microbiome. They’re the ones that favor appropriate concentrations of dopamine and other neurotransmitters. They help you feel good and think clearly. They actually make the stuff. If you don’t have the right ones, you’re screwed (unless you can entice them to grow. More on that another time soon.)

2. Eat more greens:

Greens, more specifically, also contain nitrates. They are converted by your gut bugs to nitric oxide which helps dilate your blood vessels. This can lead to a reduction in blood pressure and better blood perfusion throughout your body, including your brain. So, you are favoring clearer thinking.

3. Breathe!

I’m talking about a specific type of relation breathing here.

Before you begin each meal, take a couple of minutes and take 10 deep breaths, in through your nose (to a count of 4) and out through your mouth (to a count of 8). This intensional relaxation breathing can help reduce stress and cortisol levels. That calms you down and helps your food digest easier.

4. Get some exercise!

Aerobic exercise helps your body in innumerable ways.

The 2 things I want to mention here:

Exercise helps balance many of your neurotransmitters and

helps bring fresh blood supply to the brain. Both of those things help you think clearer.

5. Cut back on animal product consumption:

You don’t need to “go vegan,” but at least start by decreasing dairy consumption. 2 reasons:

Decreasing animal food consumption will help balance your hormones (because you’re not consuming as much hormone-laden foods).

Decreasing saturated fat consumption will help blood flow; including blood flow to the brain.

So, taken together, these things can get you started on the road to balancing your hormones and to clearer thinking.

Tune in next time for more. . .

The post Think Clearer: Hormonal Influences on Your Brain Resolved Simply appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

Ever find yourself thinking, saying that? As you literally watched your mind wander off, despite trying to pay attention.

This is a User’s Guide through the Menopause Cloud.

Or “I know I came in here to do something! Now, what was it?”

“When was the last time I had my keys?” You frantically ask yourself while searching.

Oh, and let’s not forget calling your son by your brother’s name!

Maybe you have Menopause! (Or Perimenopause)

Symptoms include forgetting why you walked into a room, interspersed with bouts of hot flashes and temper flares. Side effects include dark thick chin hairs that appear out of nowhere, blowing up at the kids over dumb stuff, being awake from 2:30-5:30 AM and a rounding belly.

Ask your doctor about. . . no on second thought, DON’T! At least not yet. The answers you get may be worse than the symptoms.

Ok. So you’re starting to realize that’s where you are. NOW what?

It’s not as hopeless as it seems. You’ll get to the other side of this just like everything else; one day at a time. But there are things you can do to ease the pain.

Let’s look at 5 things:

First things first:

1. Simplify life: Take a survey of what you do and ask yourself, “DO I really need to do this?” “I” is the operative noun here. From cleaning the kitchen sink to preparing dinner to putting away laundry, there are many mundane chores we take on as women that could be, or SHOULD be relegated to the kids.
   Heck, your kids need to learn how to do the basics of taking care of meals, cleaning, and more by the time they’re 18 anyway!
2. Basic structure: Are you getting consistent sleep? If not, develop a good routine that includes shutting off electronics earlier and winding down with a cup of herbal tea. (I’ll address more about sleep in another article soon).
3. Get regular exercise. Getting your heart rate up into your conditioning zone every other day will help reduce stress. It will also make you physically tired so you’ll sleep better. With better sleep will come better thought processes.
4. Meditate: I like to think of meditation as structuring and taming my brain. Take just 5 minutes a day to sit quietly and train your brain.  Concentrate on one thing, observing your breath. It will make a tremendous difference over time.
5. Eat the right foods:
   Yes, I’m writing this. You knew I’d get to this sooner or later.
   • Eat fewer animal foods. High protein, high-fat animal foods contribute to plaque formation in both the arteries and the brain tissue itself.
   • Eat more greens: The nitrates in greens are converted to nitric oxide by the good bacteria in your gut. Nitric oxide allows your arteries, including the arteries in your brain to expand and bring in fresh blood flow.
   • Eat more fruit, especially berries: Blueberries are an amazing superfood. Studies show blueberries help memory in dementia patients; so they can certainly help you.

Ok. So there you have it. Some basic things you can control and actions you can take to make a difference in your life today.

Need more help? Schedule a call & let’s talk.

The post Where Did My Brain Go? A User’s Guide Through the Menopause Cloud appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

If you’re a perimenopausal woman, this should be music to your ears!

It’s something you can control.

An opportunity to get rid of (or at least greatly reduce) the hot flashes and the night sweats.

The opportunity to start addressing those brain changes and start remembering  people’s names and why you walked into a room.

For many women these symptoms continue long after the perimenopausal years . . . and they don’t have to.

Sally (not her real name) was that person. She went through menopause. But afterwards, the hot flashes continued, the forgetfulness continued. Indeed, she was convinced it was just part of aging.

Then, after we talked, she decided to give some of my suggestions a try.

The change wasn’t overnight and it wasn’t perfect. Still she noticed measurable differences. . .in the number and intensity of hot flashes. . .and in her memory. 

Oh yeah, and she lost 10 lbs.

With that in mind, here are my top 3 hacks:

1. Eliminate dairy!

I know this is a tough one for many people. But dairy is really just bovine growth factor. It’s loaded with hormones, especially estrogen.

Have you ever noticed an adult animal consuming milk anywhere in nature? No, neither have I.  Maybe we are not designed to consume it.

Cow’s milk is designed to fatten a calf from 40 lbs. to nearly a thousand pounds in a year! That’s a 25X weight gain. In contrast, human milk produces a 3X weight gain in a year. So all those hormones & growth factors are what you’re eating in your cheese.

When you stop taking in all that excess hormone, it gives your body a chance to eliminate what you’re not making. The result is not only helping to balance your hormones but decreasing weight, and the likelihood of cancer, heart disease and more.

2. Eat soy regularly.

Few people outside of those who have specifically studied it understand soy’s benefits.

Let me explain: Compounds in soy bind to the estrogen binding sites of our cells. That means our own naturally occurring estrogen can’t so it can now be metabolized by our liver and eliminated.
These soy compounds have lower estrogenic activity than our own estrogen so they effectively reduce estrogen levels (provided we eat enough fiber so the estrogen isn’t resorbed.)

3. Eat more high fiber plant foods.

Fiber will help push the metabolic byproducts mentioned above through your digestive tract quickly so they can’t get resorbed. If you don’t move them & eliminate them quickly enough, they will be resorbed and they will be re-converted back to estrogen.

Do just these three things and they will help. Start today. You’ll be glad you did.

Want more? Join my Empowered Wellness Membership Group. This low-cost program will give you all the assistance you need to make changes and the results you need and want. Learn more here: 

The post My Top 3 Healthy Happy Hormone Hacks appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

But this time it was different.

For weeks before it was almost routine; 2:30 to nearly 6:00 am lying awake, agitated and profusely sweating. Knowing how exhausted I’d be all day because I couldn’t sleep. . .Every. . . single. . . night.

But all that had ended when I started on the bioidentical hormone creams weeks ago.

Indeed it was one of the main reasons I had consented to the hormones . . . 

Hormones that my medical doctor and colleague had convinced me were safe. . . 

Hormones that my research would later tell a different story about. . . 

Yet, here I was, wide awake again. But I wasn’t profusely sweating and I wasn’t agitated. Though I was anxious and scared.  . . at least I knew why. . . 

Over the past several weeks, the hormones had done the trick . . .the hot flashes were gone. . . I felt more even-keeled. . .I wasn’t blowing up at the kids over little things as much.

My brain & my memory were even working better. Gosh, I could even remember why I walked into a room!  

But now there was a new problem. . .the one that had me anxious and scared.

. . .I had gained 20 lbs. in the past 2 months! The result of the hormone cream I was using. 20 lbs. on my petite 5’4” body! At this rate, I’d weigh 200lbs. by year’s end. 

Images of ‘fat Leslie’ danced in my head. I know that sounds vain. But as someone who struggled, mostly successfully with her weight for her entire life; this was NOT an option I was willing to entertain! 

Add to that, the sluggishness I already felt and how much worse it would be. . .

And the joint aches I didn’t want. . .  the result of the excess weight. . . 

And the negative health consequences I knew being nearly double my ideal weight would likely bring. . .

There HAD to be a way I could resolve this without drugs. I resolved to start doing my research the next day. 

That research, over the next several weeks, led me to an understanding of the relationship between food, the gut and hormone balance. Then, as I instituted diet changes, and increased my exercise, the weight began to come off.

. . .My research revealed much. . .a lot of that, I won’t get into right now. . .

Just to say, it turns out that ‘minor side effects’ like weight gain are NOT less common with bioidentical hormones creams.

So eventually, I resolved the issues and put together a food & lifestyle-based approach to balancing hormones and addressing weight and chronic disease. 

A simple approach that’s easily adaptable to multiple health issues and body types.

Now I’m bringing that simple approach to my new Empowered Wellness Membership Program.

The new program is free till February 1st with no obligation. Check it out here:

The post Resolve Menopause Madness appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

In fact, weight gain during the peri-menopausal years is one of the most common complaints I hear as a health coach. My own story about conquering it and what I learned along the way has been one of my major inspirations for helping others.

So, today I want to look at the keto diet. Is a keto diet healthy or harmful for peri-menopausal weight-loss? It certainly IS a very popular answer.

The main features of a ketogenic diet are high-fat foods and veggies. In it’s purest form that’s it.

You restrict (or eliminate) starches, grains, and fruit. Many say berries are allowable but achieving true ketosis with berries usually means limiting them to a cup or less a day. Then you add lots of fat, meats with the fat left on it, dairy, coconut, avocado, eggs, and more; all to push your body to convert to using fat as a primary energy source instead of sugar.

A true keto diet also involves testing your urine several times per day to make sure you’re maintaining ketosis so your body will burn fat as its primary fuel.

And if you cheat, it usually takes about 2 days before you get back to a ketogenic state. That’s the price you pay for an additional piece of fruit or some crackers; two days of standing still!

My first question is a practical one: how long can you do that for?

Personally, the thought of giving up brown rice, winter squash, sweet potatoes and fruit would send me into a frenzy. Those are some of the healthiest foods on the planet. And some of my favorites as well.

As a reference point, Okinawans, who boast the highest percentage of healthy Centenarians (people who live to 100) in the world, get about 60-75% of their daily calorie intake from sweet potatoes! -Of course, they don’t add butter, sugar and other garbage to them!

Carbos are also comfort foods for many of us. And when you really look at it, it’s not the potato that’s the problem, it’s the company it keeps; the sour cream, butter, bacon bits and more that most typically add to it. But I digress, where talking about keto here.

After that, the next question is NOT “does it work?”

The REAL question is “What does it work for?”

The original discovery of the ketogenic was that it reversed epilepsy in children with seizure disorders. However, there are also reports in the literature of children dying from sudden cardiac death caused by selenium deficiency.

 It’s also been well-documented that the ketogenic diet is deficient in at least 17 different nutrients.

But does the fact that it can cure epilepsy in children make it a healthy way for a peri-menopausal woman to lose weight? Or a way to lose weight and fat at all?

Further, can you eat keto and maintain or improve hormones balance and have the energy you need to sustain yourself throughout the day?

And what are the long-term effects of a keto diet? Can it have a long-term positive effect on your health (like eating whole food plant-based can)?

It’s very difficult to maintain a ketogenic diet without eating animal products daily. This means eating high amounts of saturated fats with its negative effect on arterial health and heart function.

Since cardiovascular conditions are already the number one killer in our country already, you might consider:

Do you really want to go on a diet that can increase the chances of you having a heart attack or other adverse cardiac event even beyond what is typical?

And you might also want to be aware that low carb diets, in general, are linked to higher all-cause mortality rates. In other words, all things being equal, a person on a low carb diet is likely to die younger than a person not on a low carb diet.

High animal fat diets are also particularly toxic to the kidneys and the liver. They can also lead to gall stones and increase levels of inflammation in the body. And they are directly implicated in many forms of cancer.

Further, diets high in animal products make it more difficult for peri-menopausal women to maintain hormone balance since they are getting exogenous estrogen from those animal products.

Thus, peri-menopausal symptoms could worsen in some women on ketogenic diets.

So there may be safety, short-term, and long-term factors to consider. And it could make peri-menopause symptoms worse.

Now to the matter of losing weight and more importantly, losing fat weight.

Several studies have compared the fat and lean muscle loss on low-carb diets vs. low-calorie diets. The results might surprise you.

While people on low carb diets lose weight more quickly and perhaps even lose more total weight, it’s well-documented they also lose more lean muscle mass. The title of a 2015 study says it all:

“Calorie for Calorie, Dietary Fat Restriction Results in More Body Fat Loss than Carbohydrate Restriction in People with Obesity.”

My last consideration is about you, as a peri-menopausal woman, having the energy you want and need to make it through the day. The titles of these 2 studies tells it all:

“Blood ketones are directly related to fatigue and perceived effort during exercise in overweight adults adhering to low-carbohydrate diets for weight loss: a pilot study.” In other words: higher ketones in the blood yield higher fatigue levels.

And a more recent study reinforces this point:

“Low carbohydrate, high fat diet impairs exercise economy and negates the performance benefit from intensified training in elite race walkers.”

So, it appears that ketogenic diets also impair energy or, at least the energy needed for exercising.

So there you have it; some considerations to evaluate in regards to high fat, ketogenic diets.

Is there another diet you’d like to get some more factual information on? Comment below and I’ll blog about it soon.

The post The Keto Diet and Peri-Menopause: Healthy or Harmful? appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

“Why does (God/nature) put us through this?!”

“I’m ready to just kill him!” (spouse) and them (the kids). . . .

Red-faced, shirt soaked… .again! “Maybe I should just cancel ALL my clients & business meetings for the foreseeable future!? Oh, wait, I can’t, I have a business to run, people to serve & a family. . . “

“What was I calling him/her about?” “Why did I come into this room?” “Tell me that again. I didn’t quite follow that. The brain fog; again.” “Give me a sec.”

Above all: “Just make it go away!”

Your doctor has told you about ‘the options:’

First of all, your choices, to medicine’s understanding: Bio-identical hormone creams (made from plants) (BHT-bioidentical therapy) or pharmaceutical grade stuff made from pregnant mares’ pee (traditional hormone replacement therapy – HRT).

Seems like there was little choice in that, for me. But truth be told, I just took my doctor’s word… .that bio-identical hormones for peri-menopause would be safer and that they would work. Since the idea of ‘them’ impregnating a mare and collecting her pee so I could eat it in a pill nauseated me, the cream was really the ‘only’ choice. Besides, I’m the anti-drug, natural type.

I now know I could have made better choices; at least for me; choices that included neither of these options. Your choices are always your own in the end. I can’t blame anyone else for my folly. (I’ll tell you more about ‘alternative approaches’ in another article soon.)

I also know; as you soon will, about the risks of ‘bio-identicals’ or BHT.

So, over the next 2 months, my symptoms disappeared! Great! But wait! My clothes. . . they’re all too small! And what’s this!? The scale, it’s going up almost daily… .10 lbs. . . 15 lbs. . . .  20 lbs. heavier in just 2 months… not great! If I kept gaining weight at that rate, I’d be fatter than my mother ever was! (Excuse the irreverence; she’d be ok with it.)

So, (2 months & 20 lbs. later) I start my research! I tell myself, “Next time, I’ll do the research before I act. It was worth a try.” Now (as in today)… I’m not so sure it was. The positive thing that did come from this was the reinforcement of the understanding that what we think we know, and the truth are often two different things: especially in the realm of health & drugs.

Checking out references for ‘bio-identical hormones,’ ‘HRT’ and more:

So: Fast forward: several articles found. Now comes the love/hate part, getting through them! The dry writing bores me to tears but I’ve got to get through. I also know I have to read the entire article since the abstract may or may not arrive at a logical conclusion, the study methods may or may not be designed to draw the conclusions they do, there may be questions about the author’s ties to Big Pharma and more.

Since it’s estimated that less than 5% of medical journal articles represent well done, well-documented studies, sometimes it seems easier to throw all the articles in the air & just pick one to read & believe! But I know that’s no better than where I was before so I started my research! And I slog through & persist.

In order to not bore you tears with all the details, I’ll just summarize a couple of points:

(1) The Cochrane Collaborative (a non-profit whose mission is to do systematic reviews of studies and evaluate evidence in a non-biased way) concludes:

• There is data that is of ‘low to moderate’ quality that bioidentical hormone therapy (BHT) is more effective than placebo.
• There is evidence to suggest higher doses of BHT have more effect but that higher doses come with a higher risk of adverse events.
• No data is yet available regarding long term safety for the most serious risks of HRT: heart attack, stroke and breast cancer (see below for updated info on breast cancer).
• There is no good evidence to say that BHT is more effective than (traditional) HRT and the findings regarding adverse events are inconsistent.

(2) Several Journal articles told me a few things:

• The ‘safety’ of BHT seems to be based on the concept of ‘it’s from (safe) plants so it must be safer’. There is little real data to support this but also not a lot of good data to refute it.
• Some studies conclude that many of the ‘minor’ side effects attributed to traditional HRT, things like headaches, depression & my 20 lb. weight gain happen just as often with BHT.
• Until very recently there was little data about long term health effects. (see below regarding breast cancer).

(3) A study published in The Lancet in August 2019 (too late to help me with my decision but hopefully not you with yours) drew some interesting and scary conclusions.

This was a review of 58 studies involving 143,887 estrogen-positive breast cancer cases and 424,972 controls (without breast cancer) undertaken by The Collaborative Group on Hormone Functions in Breast Cancer in the UK and funded by Cancer Research UK and the Medical Research Council.

• There is a ‘small but significant’ increase in breast cancer rates from all types of hormone replacement therapy and the risk increases with increased time taking the drugs.
• Statistically speaking, the increased risk has amounted to approx.. 1 million additional cases of estrogen+ breast cancer in Western women since 1990!
• The relative rate of breast cancer for women on oral (traditional) HRT was calculated at 1.33. The relative rate for women using transdermal (Bioidentical cream) was 1.35! In English: a relative rate of 1.0 would represent no increase. A relative of 1.3 actually indicates a 30% increased rate! There was basically NO difference i the breast cancer rate for the 2 therapies!

So, there you have it: in a nutshell; Bio-identical creams have NOT been shown to be safer or more effective and are associated with the same increased rate of breast cancer as traditional HRT.

In my next post, I’ll review a few of the many natural things you can do to begin to regulate your hormones.

Update 2024

There has been significantly more information put forward about hormonal therapy in the past several years. Most of it seems to say that the drug are safer than what’s indicated above. However, I still have serious concerns as most medical/drug research is done by the pharmaceutical industry. They retain ownership of the data and only publish the data they choose to. (Do I hear the terms “bias” and “cherry-picking” here?) You can learn more about that in a book by John Abramson, MD.

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