Chinese Herbs for Menopause

One of the main reasons that menopause negatively affects women is the decline of estrogen production by the ovaries.  Other systems compensate for this estrogenic decline.  The adrenal glands and fat cells will produce estrogens or estrogen pre-cursors but sometimes our adrenal glands are depleted.  Stress, poor diet, and illness can deplete our bodies’ further, making menopause a more intense and negative experience.

Chinese medicine has been well documented to help a woman’s body produce estrogen and to regulate her hormones.  Acupuncture works by stimulating her adrenal glands and by calming her sympathetic nervous response (Fight or Flight response).  Calming the nervous system and stimulating the adrenal glands allows her body to produce the necessary hormones.  Night sweats can be notably declined and alleviated.

Chinese herbal formulas such as Rehmannia Six or Rehmannia Eight Formula (Liu wei di huang or Zhi bai di huang)has been found to balance female hormones by increasing serum estrogen levels and by lowering follicular stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH)(Jinhuang, Z 1997: 3(4):242-245). These formulas can also increase activated Vitamin D which can help women suffering from osteoporosis (Yanping, C et al; 1994: 14(1).

Rehmannia (shu di huang or sheng di huang) contains iridoid glycosides which have been found to be effective in the stimulation of estrogen production. The main function of iridoid glycosides is to stimulate the production of adrenal cortical hormones which are hormones involved in the production of sex hormones.

It is important to stimulate the body to regulate itself rather than solely relying upon synthetic hormones to trick the body into thinking that it has produced these hormones.  Aside from acupuncture and herbs, at our clinic we will also look at nutrition, supplements and lifestyle to help you achieve hormonal balance.

Posted in Hormone Balancing.