However,  I can’t help but notice that there’s still much missing in the discussion.
This article exemplifies it. It details a writer’s frustration and shame as she has a meltdown followed by a hot flash when put on the spot in public.  Then there’s her answer, which, typical for our society is a medication.

I’m hearing that a lot.

Here’s how horrendous it all is; the hot flashes, the night sweats, that brain that refuses to process a succinct thought, and more. It’s affecting women’s lives and well-being.
The attention is timely and valid.  The solution, in our society, is obvious: a magic pill (or a variation thereof.)

Not everybody wants to take medication   Not everybody can take medication. Still missing from the discussion is what can you do besides take medication or just suffer?

Oh, yes people will talk about breathing and acceptance. I can’t help but wonder what good that does when you’re standing in the front of a room with sweat dripping down your body. At that point, you can barely remember your name, let alone what you’re there to talk about. I’ve been there.

Fortunately, there are answers beyond medication that work. Because, like it or not, medication, by its very nature ALWAYS leaves you open to adverse effects (those effects may be more or less likely but they always exist.).

Natural approaches, (the ones that involve diet and lifestyle, that is,) seldom do. But they are more likely to need dialing in.  and so they become much like the numbers in a combination lock; a very precise solution to a very individual problem.

But the answers, when you find them, help make your life healthier. What a refreshing concept. A solution that can help make you healthier; not subject you to more issues.

Diet and lifestyle changes allow your body to heal itself.  Thus the change often addresses several symptoms and can help you live a healthier life.

Well, all that sounds great, you say but what do I do and how do I get started? The answers are somewhat individualized. But, there is an overarching theme.

Eat more real whole plant food. Get more movement. Live more in alignment with your body’s rhythms and the way God & nature intended. Decrease stress.

Now, eliminate some offending foods (let’s start with processed foods). And add some therapeutic foods (like broccoli and soy). That’s a good start and may begin to make a real difference.

Want more info beyond the generalities? Let’s talk.

The post Menopause: Getting Time in the Lime Light appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

“Given the current trajectory of your health and your habits, what do you think your life will be like in 30 years if you don’t change anything?”

It was not uncommon for a 50 year old to look me square in the eye and say, “I don’t want to live that long, Doc.”

My response: “Do you get the choice?”

“Unless you’re going to ‘off yourself,’ you will live however long you live. You may be able to have an idea of your genetic tendency but that’s about it. The difference you can make with your habits is how much you will suffer in the last 10 years of life.”

“You need only look at medical stats and the older folks you know to understand this.”

Here’s the thing:

Most of us live our lives on autopilot.

Not only do we not think about the future, we live as though we think we can get a ‘do-over’ when things start to go sour. Intellectually, we know that’s not true but it doesn’t change our behavior.

Then, when things start to go awry, it’s often too late to reverse the damage.

My goal as a health coach is to help you to be able to do the things you love till the day you die. And of course, defying the odds!

With that in mind, here are my 5 not-so-secret secrets for defying the odds:

1. Eat mostly plants. It’s not necessary to be vegan but the healthiest cultures in the world (like the Okinawans, 7th Day Adventists and other Blue Zone cultures) eat diets that are about 90% plant-based whole food: fruit, vegetables, legumes and some grains. Statistically, 7th Day Adventists represent the largest group of independently living Centenarians. Doesn’t it just make inherent sense to do what others have done that works?
2. If it comes in a prepared package, for the most part, leave it on the shelf. Sure, there are times when we need convenience. I’m not saying don’t ever buy anything in a package. But DO be more discerning. Look at the ingredients. Do you know what they all are? There’s a tremendous difference between a frozen dinner made mostly with whole food and one that has an ingredient list that takes up the entire side of the package. I often refer to these as “food-like substance.” You know the difference between chemicals and food. Eat FOOD!
3. Rebuild your gut. We now know that our gut bacteria (AKA our microbiome) makes about 80% of our hormones. But it can’t make the right things when it’s been damaged. Have you eaten animal food almost daily, eaten processed foods regularly, been on antibiotics and more like most Americans? Then your gut needs help. More help than just eating some fermented foods. This is easy when you know how. Let’s talk today.
4. Get some exercise. Let’s remember: the human body has over 600 muscles. It was made for movement. There are estimates that our hunter-gatherer cave dwelling ancestors moved up to 20 hours per day & used as much as 5000 calories daily just gathering & hunting for survival! THIS is the life your body was designed to lead. The more active you are, the better it works. PERIOD. FULL STOP.
5. Pay attention to your mental-emotional well-being. Put the distracting electronics down & communicate with real people. Spend time in nature. Stop listening to the mass media mellow-drama. I’m not advocating that you live in a cave; only that you turn the dinge off long enough to remember what is really important to you; your friends & family and your primary relationships. Ask yourself if watching another 30 minutes of pre-digested news is helping anyone? Take that time & spend it doing something meaningful for yourself or others.

So there you have it.

A few simple things you can begin today to increase the odds that you can live a healthier life & defying the odds.

Need more or more specific help? Let’s set up a time to talk.

The post Aging & Longevity: Defying the Odds appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

• 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.

Let’s face it, there are too many shouldn’ts that are pushed on us all the time about our food choices: shouldn’t eat this, shouldn’t eat that. 

What about a new attitude of what you can eat?

Adding a little bit of inventive deliciousness?

Some foods that work magically in your system?

Foods that feed your body; your brain and your gut (AKA your second brain) what they need to keep you happy and thinking straight!?

Are you pre-menopausal and known to have PMS?

Or are you peri- or post menopause and having mood issues?

Maybe you’re a guy concerned about your own issues.

You might benefit from some intentional eating. 

All these issues are related to hormones. And the foods we eat can have remarkably positive effects, if we eat the right foods more often. 

The addition of medicinal foods can make a huge difference.

Now this isn’t a magic pill, it’s not going to cure a thing because regardless of what the issue is, it’s not caused by just one thing! Make sense?

Good.

But it can help. It can put you on a better path..

Looking at foods as medicinal means eating good-for-you foods regularly, like you’d take a pill. 

So you’ll need a few recipes. Ones that you can use often. 

Here’s one. 

Do you like barbecued food?

Use you favorite barbecue sauce here:

This is a great one to add if you want to balance your estrogens; if you’ve got PMS, mood swings or hot flashes for example. (It also could help, especially when combined with decreasing dairy if you’re a guy who is losing his hair!) It would be more helpful if you ladies cut back on the cheese too. Just so you know.

Barbecued braised tofu
Ingredients: 1 lb. organic tofu & your favorite barbecue sauce.

Place the tofu on a cutting board and put a heavy object on top of it to squeeze out the excess water. (A cast iron frying pan works really well for this.) Let it sit for 10-20 minutes. (Check it and rebalance the weighted object if necessary) Then drain it & discard the water. 

Slice the tofu into slices ¼-½ inch thick. Cover the bottom of a glass container with barbecue sauce and then a layer of tofu. Layer with more sauce & continue layering. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. (Overnight is better.)

Put the tofu directly on a rack in a preheated 375 degree oven. Place a drip pan under it. Bake for up to an hour; turning after 30 minutes. (Be very gentle when turning it. It will have a tendency to break or stick. You can also brush the rack with oil first if desired) Add additional sauce when you turn it if desired. The longer you bake, the chewier it will get. It will also get even chewier if you let it cool. 

You can serve this as part of meal, or as a snack or appetizer. So, I’m not telling you to replace your steak; just add this for now. 

I find it makes a great mid afternoon snack when my concentration is waning. I just eat cold straight out of the frig.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be featuring more medicinal foods. Over time, decreasing animal foods and other pro-inflammatory foods would be great additional steps. 

You’ll want at least 2 or 3 more recipes with high phytonutrient foods.

You can find more recipes here

Need more help or want quicker results?
I’m starting to open a few spots for both my Private Coaching programs and my “Buddy-up for Health” programs (you and you partner or BFF) for 2022. Set up a time to talk here: 

Let’s get you on my calendar.

The post Medicinal Foods and Intentional Eating 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.

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.

“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.

The post Bio-Identical Hormones for Peri-Menopause? An Irreverent Look Back appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

If they are telling you to eat fresh churned butter and grass-fed beef and stay away from soy, you might want to look a little deeper. What you’ll likely find is that their evidence is ‘anecdotal;’ what they’ve seen with clients. But here’s the thing: the people that succeed stay with them and those that don’t will usually do something else. You know that’s true: if you go see someone & the treatment doesn’t work, you usually go somewhere else. Very few people will stay with someone; be it a doctor or health coach, a business consultant or anyone else if they don’t get the results they’re looking for. People get tired of hitting their heads against the wall!

If they’ve written books, likely you’ll find the major references for their books are their own articles with their own opinions and theories but little real science in the way of published journal articles. (This also says nothing about the quality of any studies quoted; an additional level of scrutiny that must be applied in order to really evaluate the truth.

And NONE of this says anything about the long-term effect of eating the saturated fat known to stiffen our arteries and cause heart disease and strokes (and much more).

I’ve done the research looking at both sides, and if you’ll allow me to, I’ll summarize the truth about soy, dairy & your hormones for you. (Actually, I’ll summarize it anyway and it’ll be here later even if you don’t read it now!)

The Issue with Dairy: A Hormone Pill in the Form of Food

Dairy contains estrogen, progesterone, growth hormone and more. Dairy is bovine growth fluid much the same as mother’s milk is human growth fluid. Here’s the difference: mother’s milk basically triples a baby weight in a year. Cow’s milk turns a 50-lb. calf into a 1000 lb. cow in a year; that’s a 20-fold increase! Now granted, genetics and volume play a role in that, but if you look around the world at cultures that don’t consume dairy (eg. Japanese, Chinese, Okinawan, and others) you find the thinnest people in the world. (Studies also show that when these people move to the West, they look like us in less than 10 years. So, no, it isn’t genetic.)

In addition, studies (references available on request) show that human estrogen levels spike in the hours after people consume dairy. So if you’re feeding a pre-pubescent child dairy, they are getting a spike in estrogen each time and it’s contributing to the laying down of additional fat (a known function of estrogen; to make body stores for pregnancy and nursing), the development of female secondary sex characteristics and more. (I’ll discuss other issues that also impact hormones in future blogs).

It also does the same to adult women (and men. . . man-boobs!) though the difference may not be as noticeable in the reproductive years. But once we get into peri-menopause, our progesterone levels have significantly diminished and the ratio between estrogen & progesterone is thought to be the major cause of hot flashes, though the entire mechanism is not entirely worked out.

Cheese: A High Potency Hormone in the Form of Food

“But I don’t drink milk,” I can hear you saying. Remember that cheese is concentrated milk and 1 oz. of cheese will act similarly as about 1 cup of fluid milk. Add the yogurt, cream in your late, and other dairy; including hidden dairy in processed foods you are likely consuming and you have a significant issue.

When I cut dairy out, as hard as it was, it was the single thing that made the most difference both for weight loss (Read my story) and diminishing the hot flashes. Now, I honestly don’t even miss it. Add a plant-strong diet, some exercise and more things I’ll discuss in upcoming blogs and the difference will be profound.

Soy: Put the Misconception to Rest

The Paleo & Keto pushers of the world want you to know soy is evil! If it’s so evil, I wonder why the 2 ½ billion people in Southeast Asia, most of whom live longer healthier lives than us, never got the memo!

Note that everything I say here pertains to organic soy only! Unfortunately, in this country, if it’s not organic or at least labeled non-GMO, it’s likely genetically modified. (If you have questions about the dangers of GMOs, leave a comment below & if I get enough response, I’ll write about it. It’s not something I want to spend the time & space on unless I’m clear people want more info.)

Genistein Is NOT Estrogen

Soy contains genistein, a phytochemical that’s capable of binding to estrogen receptors on your cells. (Men also have estrogen receptors.) Receptor sites can be likened to a lock & key mechanism. So, once the ‘key’ is in the door, then whatever is in the key can act on the cell. Herein lies the misconception because it turns out that although soy binds to the estrogen sites, it doesn’t act like estrogen in the cell. It doesn’t cause the laying down of fat, it doesn’t contribute to secondary sex characteristics or do other things estrogen does. In fact, it does just the opposite. Studies done on women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer show that they have fewer re-occurrences & metastasis if they are consuming soy. (references available)

In addition, when you look at things like hormone-related cancers (breast, prostate, ovarian, uterine, GI tract, thyroid) countries of the world that consume soy have a much lower rate than countries like the U.S. that consume little. (It’s also thought that the high consumption of dairy is contributory).

The Advantage of Soy

So, effectively, you have a compound that occupies the estrogen site on the cell so that your own estrogen (which continues to be made albeit in smaller quantities) can’t bind to the cell as readily. Now, if you’re eating enough fiber, as the liver metabolizes the excess, the body can excrete it. However, if you’re not (which most Americans don’t), as the estrogen metabolites move down the digestive tract, they will get resorbed and made into more estrogen!

An additional thing I’ll mention about soy is the same thing I talk about with grains and nuts; less processed is always better. So edamame and tempeh are better than soy sauce and tofu. Much the same a nuts are better than nut-butters. The reason for this is that when you pulverize a plant cell, it’s akin to pre-digesting it; it leaves all the nutrients available and you’re going to absorb every last gram of fat. Because we don’t crush the cell walls of plants very readily with our teeth, we don’t absorb all the fat. Thus, effectively, whole foods are less ‘fattening’ than processed foods.

So, in conclusion, one of the best things you can do to help balance your hormones; whether you’re suffering from peri-menopause issues, PMS, PCOS or any other related issue is to start consuming soy and eliminating dairy.

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The post The Truth About Soy, Dairy & Your Hormones appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.