NourishDoc: Good afternoon, everyone. In our weekly session, we talk about ayurvedic herbs; in our session today, we’re going to talk about menopause which is an extraordinary time for most women. Presenting this session, we have Dr. Pooja Kiran, who is joining us live from Boston; welcome, Dr. Pooja.
Can herbs help balance female hormones?
Dr. Pooja: Thank you, Amita, and hello, everyone. Welcome to today’s discussion on ayurvedic herbs for managing menopause. Menopause is not a disease, but a natural transition in women that occurs at the age of 45 to 55 when the menstrual cycle stops and sex hormone levels decrease.
Every woman faces various physiological and psychological changes during this time; sometimes, such disturbances attain the stage of a disease, or a syndrome called a menopausal syndrome, which is accompanied by various vessel motor, psychological genital locomotor, and GIT-related symptoms and hence requires management.
Ayurveda identifies the stage of life in women as Rajo nivritti, meaning cessation of periods. It considers a natural process at the onset of old age. This phase of life in women is commonly associated with increased vata and decreased pitta and Kapha and a process called Dhatukshaya, which means degeneration of all tissues; owing to these changes, women undergo varying degrees of physical and mental changes in the body, such as weight gain owing to slowing metabolism, bone and joint problems fatigue and exhaustion, low libido, altered energy levels changes in skin and hair lowered immunity, hot flashes sleep disorders mood swings, emotional and mental stress and the list goes on menopause affects every part of body and mind. Though, herbal ayurvedic medicine for hormone imbalance helps a lot in managing the symptoms.
How does Ayurveda help hormone balance in women?
Ayurvedic management of menopause can be based on three therapeutic modalities:
- internal administration of herbs,
- external treatments such as the application of oil through massage or other panchakarma treatments like Shirodhara, certain detox therapies, and
- the third one is controlling of mood and abnormal mental urges and feelings as well as the distraction of the mind and emotional breakdowns.
Every woman shows varying degrees of symptoms both in number and intensity. Hence, ayurvedic management depends a lot on the individual requirement of that person. Today we will talk about some ayurvedic herbs that help in managing the symptoms of menopause.
What herbs are best to balance hormone imbalance in menopause?
The first one is Aparajita the botanical name is Clitoria ternatea; the English name is butterfly pea; it is pungent, bitter, and astringent in taste, has a pungent after digestion taste, and is cold in potency; it balances all three doshas and has a unique effect on the mind and is considered as a brain tonic, it relieves burning sensation improves digestion is good for skin and helps in managing genital, urinary problems, studies on the estrogenic effect of root extract of this plant concluded that this plant is helpful in the treatment of postmenopausal symptoms.
The second herb is Shatavari the botanical name is Asparagus racemosus; the English name is wild asparagus or climbing asparagus; it is sweet and bitter with sweet after-digestion taste, it is cold in potency is heavy and anxious, it mitigates vata and pitta, Shatavari is an adaptogen that can be used for female health at any point in life studies have found that women undergoing menopause complained of significantly lesser cognitive issues after administration of Shatavari due to its hormone balancing effects and Phyto-estrogenic properties. In ayurvedic theory, menopause causes imbalance and aggravation of vata, leading to symptoms like hot flushes; this herb has low cooling energy, thereby correcting this energetic imbalance.
The third herb today is kumari; the botanical name is Aloe barbadensis, and the English name is aloe vera; it is bitter, has a pungent after digestion taste, and is cold in potency; it is heavy, anxious, and slimy in nature and balances all three doshas, it is cooling in nature, it acts as an aphrodisiac has anti-aging and tissue rejuvenation properties, it is a uterine tonic owing to its Phytoestrogenic properties, it improves strength and immunity. It corrects digestive problems, is good for hair and skin health, and much more. The fourth herb is Ashoka the botanical name is Saraca asoca, English name is Ashoka tree, Ashoka means one that relieves pain and grief of women, it is an important ayurvedic herb used in gynecological conditions, it is bitter and astringent in taste and has pungent after digestion taste, it is cold in potency it is light and dry in nature, again it balances all three doshas especially Kapha and pitta it has been shown to reduce inflammation throughout the body, it helps in correcting hormonal imbalance it has systemic antioxidant activity and exhibits cardio properties as women with less estrogen are more prone to cardiovascular diseases, it supports multiple aspects of menopause, Ashoka has an ability to harmonize all three doshas in the female reproductive tract giving balance to these tissues, it also has a gentle downward moving energy and all these qualities are ideal for female healthcare and the last herb that we are going to discuss today is Punarnava, the botanical name is Boerhavia diffusa, the English name is spreading hogweed. Punarnava means it makes the body new again; that’s the literal meaning of Punarnava, so it has excellent anti-aging properties; it is sweet, bitter, and astringent in taste and has pungent after digestion taste; it is hot in potency. It is light and dry; it balances mainly vata and Kapha dosha; it is very helpful in managing fluid retention in the body and balances Kapha dosha, thus helping in managing weight issues, etc., post-menopause. Punarnava helps promote liver and kidney health and thus helps manage menopausal symptoms. Some classical ayurvedic formulations recommended for menopausal symptoms include Shatavari Gulam, Sukumara Ghrita, Ashokarishta, Kumaryasavam, Punarnava Mandoor, Ashwagandha Lehyam, etc. An ayurvedic approach with herbs and holistic treatment of the mind and the body helps ease the transition of this phase in life without making it feel like a crisis; thank you.
NourishDoc: So we are open to questions. I see people in zoom; if you have questions, please let us know in the chat window. I do have a question, dr pooja; out of all the herbs that you talked about, Shatavari and Ashoka, is there anything that if someone is having a simple mood disorder or some hormonal is it safe for someone to buy anything off the shelf or and take it by themselves or what is it that you recommend on these herbs?
Dr. Pooja: Of course, these herbs are very safe to be taken if someone is having mood swings that are prevalent in menopause, and the first herb, which I said Aparajita, is also called shankhpushpi; it is considered as a Maithya, which means it helps in the treatment of mind and mind disorders including anxiety stress related to mind and that shankhpushpi if taken even as a single herb helps a lot and it can be taken without any a prescription or under the guidance of a physician it can be handled very safely.
NourishDoc: Shatavari, we see at least on a lot of other retail stores like amazon; you see all these capsules, and Shatavari has also been written very much in research journals. So which particular symptom do you think Shatavari should be taken for menopause?
Dr. Pooja: Yes. So Shatavari is perfect for all gynecological problems, including menopause, so that Shatavari can be taken throughout life at any stage in a woman’s life include starting from the onset of menstruation until menopause and even like if you have other problems like after menopause you have a lot of hormonal imbalances the estrogen level comes down, so Shatavari has five estrogenic properties. So it’s perfect for women at any point in life, so taking it at any point in life is recommended.
NourishDoc: Okay. Any other questions from someone who’s joined the zoom session any questions before we wrap up the session? These are very small sessions; we just introduced the herbs every Sunday, so let us know if there are any questions; if not, we would like to wrap up this session. Any final comments, Dr. Pooja, before I wrap up this session on herbs?
Dr. Pooja: Yes. Generally, people here in the west think menopause is considered a disease because there is a hormonal imbalance or low estrogen level and a lot of people go through hormonal replacement therapies. But there are alternative options as well, like in Ayurveda, where herbs and simple external treatments can make a significant difference in improving the condition because Ayurveda does not consider this as a disease; it’s just a natural transition, but it varies from person to person every woman goes through menopause but has varying degrees of symptoms, some people have mild symptoms. Some people can have severe symptoms where that need management. So the best thing is to have a holistic approach towards this condition and not take it as a crisis because panic is not good but managing it holistically is the best approach so all the women who are going through this phase or women who will be going through this field they have a lot of anxiety in mind. So the best thing is not to have that much anxiety. Is this transition can be gentle, and will Ayurveda will help in going through this transition gently?
HRT vs. Ayurveda?
NourishDoc: So what you’re saying is you women can avoid hormone replacement therapy by Ayurveda whether they are herbs in addition to herbs you’re suggesting some other like Shirodhara or other applications that one has to go through and also with the help of yoga, maybe yoga pranayamas and even meditation so with these three elements one can avoid hormone replacement therapy and others, so that’s the message we want to tell our viewers is that with the holistic medicine with Ayurveda and yoga you could avoid hormone replacement therapy. Alright, thank you so much for joining well; we’ll see you every Sunday, we are taking a short break next weekend, but we will see all of you on the following Sunday with a new topic on ayurvedic herbs. With that, we are signing off; bye.
