Natural treatments for menopause and perimenopause work in a completely different way than prescription drugs. The natural approach works with your body, which means that it can actually prevent or reduce the severity of nearly all of your symptoms rather than just relieving them temporarily!

1. Avoid the five biggest sources of hormone disrupters.

• Avoid pesticides and GMO foods by eating organic, especially for the dirty dozen.
  

• Choose grass-fed and organic for meat and dairy.
  

• Use makeup, fragrance, self-care, and cleaning products that have minimal (if any) hormone-disrupting chemicals like parabens, phthalates, and triclosan.
  

• Avoid BPA by avoiding food or drink packaged in plastic.
  

• Avoid PFCs by avoiding nonstick cookware coated with Teflon.
  

2. Eat a hormone-balancing, menopause-friendly diet.

• 50 percent fruits and vegetables
  

• 25 percent protein
  

• 25 percent healthy fats, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes
  

Include superfoods like flaxseeds, black beans, walnuts, sesame seeds, cinnamon, leafy greens, eggs, pear, longan fruit, cucumber, watercress, fennel, seaweed, burdock, ginger, anchovies, yogurt and raw dairy, goji berries, longan berries, and pine nuts.

Don't eat too much of these foods that tend to flare up hot flashes:

• alcohol
  

• spicy foods
  

• processed foods (including refined sugar)
  

3. Practice stress management.

Find a relaxation technique you like. Try meditation, taiji, qigong, breathing exercises, acupressure, or reflexology. Practice it five days a week—even if it's only for three minutes a day at first. If you're not sure where to start with stress management, try this:

• Sit in a comfortable position.
  

• Grab the top of your ear, right where it meets your head, between your thumb and pointer finger.
  

• Squeeze gently while making little circles as you take a deep breath in, then exhale for as long as you can.
  

• Move your finger and thumb halfway down your ear and repeat—squeezing gently while making little circles and taking a deep breath in and then all the way out.
  

• Move your finger and thumb to your earlobe and repeat—squeeze gently while making little circles while taking a deep breath in and then all the way out.
  

Yes, it can really be that quick!

4. Get some exercise.


Gentle exercise, like walking, yoga, exercise bicycles, and Pilates are incredibly helpful for lowering stress levels, releasing helpful hormones and neurotransmitters, and for heart health. Try for 15 to 20 minutes five times per week.

5. Take a Chinese herbal formula.

Many of the most effective formulas use herbs like Rehmannia, Dendrobium, Chinese White Peony root, Aged Tangerine Rind, Phellodendron Bark, and Anemarrhena Rhizome.

Of course, before beginning any new regimen, please talk to an herbalist for help finding a high-quality formulation and to make sure they're compatible with any health issues or medications you might be taking. Always tell your doctor when your herbal supplements change too.

This five-step plan can help relieve menopausal symptoms, reduce signs of aging, and protect your health well into the future.