The conversation is real; in facebook groups for midlife women, in my one-on-one consulting calls with my clients and in online pleas for recommendations for cooling sheets, decent fans and sweat blocking procedures…it has been the summer of the HOT FLASH!
Peri-menopause in a climate crisis, as temperature reach new all time highs, is uncomfortable, sweaty and under boob rash inducing.
Hot nights make it hard to sleep. Heat waves result in day after day of top lip sweating and feeling like a gross hot mess as you shower for the third time in a day.
Hot flashes are one of the more uncomfortable and most widely recognized symptoms of peri-menopause and within this symptom there is A LOT to unpack.
New research into midlife womens health tells us that severe and frequent hot flashes, especially at an earlier age for menopause is a valuable predictor of a cardiac event later in life. This makes your hot flash a symptom of something far more serious than natural hormonal change and every woman should consider adjusting her diet to one that is more heart healthy at midlife. Think increased fibre, zero inflammatory trans fats and seed or vegetable oils and reduced sugar.
We know that hot flashes can be reduced when we reduce our intake of sugar caffeine and alcohol. All of these ‘foods’ spike our blood sugar level and evidence is mounting that the hot flashes are induced by the blood sugar crash that comes after the spike. There is also evidence that hot flashes are linked to insulin resistance, the precursor to diabetes. AGAIN, increased fibre and healthy fats coupled with protein with each meal will help us to balance our blood sugar levels.
When cortisol our stress hormone dominates our hormone profile we can feel an increase in both hot flashes and anxiety so reducing stress and remaining ‘chill’ is the antidote to these sweaty episodes.
There are also some foods that straight up reduce the incidence of hot flashes.
We have LOTS that we can work with to empower ourselves around our personal health and help ourselves out when it comes to uncomfortable hot flashes.
These steps of reducing sugar, reducing stress and eating more fibre and healthy fats, not only allow us to sail calmly with more comfort through hormonal change, but are also positively impacting our overall health reducing our incidence of diabetes and cardiac arrest.
Before over-riding the process our bodies in with HRT, these health-building diet and lifestyle changes are the steps our doctors should be recommending to us when we go in for an appointment.
What could be more delicious on a hot day than a cooling glass of chilled lemonade that supports our bodies in reducing this uncomfortable and embarrassing symptom.
Enter Lemon Balm and Sage Lemonade.
Lemon Balm is,a herb that has been used since medieval times to reduce anxiety and promote restful sleep. Like many herbs, it is a powerful medicine and can reduce cortisol levels in the blood stream. It is not for you however if you are taking hypothyroid medication or retroviral medication as it can interact in the body with this medicine. For this recipe i used dried Lemon Balm to make a tea but you can steep a handful of fresh lemon balm leaves if you grow a plant at home in your yard.
Sage is the herb you serve with your Thanks Giving turkey and can be found in most grocery stores or grown easily at home. Sage has been found to reduce the incidence of hot flashes by 50% in clinical trials carried out in midlife women. Read that again 50%.
Can you imagine if this was a drug??? We would all be recommended to take sage by our doctors and there would be publicity in womens magazines and on TV.
Because sage is just a herb you can grow at home in your yard for cents and because our medical providers are profit based, we do not get to hear about sage and its clinical trials or receive this information. We are extremely lucky to have clinical trials carried out at all on such a ubiquitous pantry staple but sage should be tucked into every womans shopping cart, to be steeped into a herbal tasting tea for the relief of one of the most ubiquitous symptoms of hormonal change.
For this recipe I steeped a flavourful tea made of dried lemon balm, fresh sage leaves and lemon rind before juicing the lemons and adding honey to make a delicious lemonade.
Ingredients
1 tbsp dried lemon balm
1 handful fresh sage leaves
1 litre/32 floz filtered water boiled
4 lemons
2 tbsp local raw honey
Instructions
Add the dried lemon balm, fresh sage and the peel from the lemons to a large jug or container.
Pour over the boiling water and leave the herbs and lemon to steep for 20 minutes to make a strong tea
Filter the herbs from the tea using a sieve or coffee filter
Add the juice of the four lemons and 2 tbsp of local raw honey stirring to combine
Chill the lemonade in the refrigerator and serve over ice adding sparkling water if it is to your taste.
Sip in the shade and feel the chill wash over your body