Aging with Grace and Ease

How to Come Up With a Health Plan as We Age

We all experience the changes that come with getting older. I would like to explore with you some ways that we can slow down aging, stay healthy and fit, minimize aches and pains, reduce stress, and avoid disease, keeping our minds and memories sharp and our moods positive.

When we feel valued by our communities, our families, and our culture, we will be healthier. It is really important to find meaningful ways to give back to our communities as we age. With years of experience, we have so much to give.

We will look at changes that occur at menopause and beyond, and come up with a plan that includes some lifestyle changes, emotional and spiritual support systems, an anti-aging and anti-inflammatory diet , exercise, supplements, herbal medicine and some form of natural hormonal support.

Much of the information here is in my book, Choices for Women at Midlife, Natural Hormones and Alternative Medicine.

The Following Changes Occur for Many Women at Menopause:

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Here are Some Things We Can Do to Slow Down the Aging Process

Keeping inflammation down will help our brain, heart, circulatory system, joints, GI system and immune system.

Eating an anti-inflammatory diet is the first step. Eating frequent smaller meals with adequate protein can help keep hormone and blood sugar levels steady.

Bone Loss and Osteoporosis

Click here to learn more about Good Bone Health As We Age…

Short Term Memory Loss and brain function – Many women complain of problems with memory and concentration. Dropping hormone levels are responsible for this.
Eating a good diet, and eating frequent smaller meals with adequate protein can help this problem, keeping hormone and blood sugar levels steady. The brain is affected by inflammation caused by sugar and simple carbohydrates in our diets.
Chinese herbs and acupuncture to used to strengthen the organs, the qi and blood. There are many anti-aging herbal prescriptions in the Chinese Herbal Pharmacopeoa which tonify the kidneys and spleen qi, the blood, and the kidney yin and yang energy.

Vasomotor changes (hot flashes and night sweats)
Insomnia and mood changes: fatigue, depression, anxiety
Increased risk for heart disease
Atrophy changes to ovary, cervix, vagina and uterus
Bone loss
Joint pain/arthritis as well as back and neck pain
Change in metabolism, pre-diabetes as well as diabetes, and weight gain
Loss of muscle tone and strength, along with balance problems.

Cardiovascular Health and Heart Disease

Heart attack is the leading cause of death in postmenopausal women:
We have a 1 in 2 chance of getting heart disease, as compared to a 1 in 9 chance of getting breast cancer. 1 in 7 people between ages of 45 and 64 already have heart disease.

With aging, the artery wall becomes more brittle, less flexible because not properly nourished, as a result of inflammation. Decreased liver function and fat absorption results in fats getting laid down in arteries. Inflammation occurs from free radicals, greatly enhanced by sugar and carbohydrates in our diets.