Surprisingly enough, "it has been found that the fluctuating hormone levels most women experience in their perimenopause and menopausal years do NOT, in and of themselves, cause the distressing emotional and psychological symptoms of menopause..." (Dr. Christiane Northrup, "the Wisdom of Menopause") In fact, women's hormones fluctuate widely most their entire lives.
Research hasn't been able to figure out why some women suffer more because of it than others. What HAS been found though, is that the ones who suffer the most have a type of "pre-existing brain chemistry" that makes them more susceptible to the harsher menopausal symptoms.
For example, take your immune system -- if you rubbed your arm in dirt back and forth, chances are you would just get a dirty arm. No other problems. But if you broke the skin first and rubbed your arm back and forth in the dirt, you would probably get an infection. You become "susceptible."
So how does our brain chemistry become susceptible to these harsher symptoms then?
In America, I think we're becoming susceptible due to a "Triple Threat" that is becoming more and more prevalent: hormone & brain-chemistry disruption that takes place through repeated use of Diet Sodas (Aspartame), Chemical Birth Controls, and Antidepressants.
Any one of these three can cause major disruption in our hormones and brain chemistry, but all three together, in my opinion, are major factors in setting us up for that "pre-existing issue" mentioned earlier. Let's take a brief look at each one of the three.
First up: Diet Sodas (Aspartame, aka NutraSweet, aka AminoSweet)
Tons of women have been drinking Diet Sodas for years in an effort to lose weight and avoid calories. We all thought they were healthy. But according to Newsmax Health Reports, these soft drinks contain certain things called "excitotoxins" that interfere with hormone balance. They also are rumored to cause headaches, moodiness, insomnia, change in heart rates, memory loss and more (doesn't that sound a lot like menopause?) The most irritating of all is that it interferes with leptin and insulin, and so the lack of calories does NOTHING to help you lose weight. What an insult of a drink.
What makes it worse is that the top two soda brands out there both use "BPA" in the linings of their cans. BPA mimics estrogen. The Endocrine Society concluded (in 2009) that because of BPA's hormonal action at trace levels, there may be "no safe level of exposure" (ArizonaAdvancedMedicine.com). BPA shows up in 95% of American's urine according to a study by the CDC. Pretty scary stuff.
Next, let's take a look at Antidepressants
Twice as many women as men experience depression and take medication for it. Depression is a complicated subject. I won't attempt to tackle it here, and I'm not ever implying that anyone should stop taking their meds. I just want to put the awareness out there that it, too, affects our endocrine balance and brain chemistry. Some of the well-known side effects of the most common, current antidepressants include anxiety, confusion, headaches, hostility, insomnia, memory lapses, sexual dysfunction, heart attacks, weight gain and even cardiovascular problems. Again -- doesn't that sound a lot like menopause? I personally believe it is well worth the effort to explore some of the natural approaches that exist for depression (ie: 5-HTP, St. John's Wort, SAMe, etc), because as I said in the beginning of this article, it appears that these chemicals we're putting in our bodies may actually be part of the setup in the "pre-existing brain chemistry" that makes our menopausal transition so difficult here in the West.
Lastly, the final suspected culprit: Birth Control
This is a biggie. Because from very young ages, most women are on some sort of chemical form of birth control that directly alters their endocrine system. Of course it is a VERY controversial subject to begin with, but to put all polarizing issues aside, let's discuss candidly what's going on in your body, hormone-wise, when you're taking that pill. Most forms of birth control are "combination pills" that contain estrogen and progestin. Simply put, they work by preventing the ovary from releasing eggs, among other things. Some of them may even stop the menstrual cycle completely -- and when you try to quit those, it can take 9 months to 2 years for the menstrual cycle to re-regulate itself. That is pretty much total endocrine disruption. If you're in perimenopause or menopause now, there's no doubt that you were probably on some sort of chemical birth control for many, many years.
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After potentially 3 decades of altering our entire endocrine systems with various birth control chemicals, and our brain functionings with chemical sweeteners and antidepressants, it's no wonder we're messed up when we finally start to enter the age of menopause here in the Western World. But that's the downer side... I want to give everyone some HOPE!
There is a HUGE positive side to all of this: we're just now learning the effects of all the things we've put into our bodies over the years. We're really not to blame. But now that we have the internet, we can share our wisdom with many. What's neat about menopause is that it's CELEBRATED as "The Age of Wisdom" in the East. Let's celebrate it here too! We truly are coming in to the fullness of our true selves. We have SO MUCH to share. Our voice can and will be heard. And changes will be made for the better. Not only for ourselves, but for our daughters and for all future generations to come.
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