Foods That Make Hot Flashes Worse

Don't miss any of HealthyWoman from Bottom Line. Add our address, HealthyWomanfromBottomLine@news.bottomlinepublishing.com, to your Address Book or Safe List. Learn how here. April 21, 2011  Foods That Make Hot Flashes Worse The Drugs No Senior Should Ever Take What Not to Do When a Loved One Is Seriously Ill Mind-Boosting Secrets Infection Risk Alert for C-Sections   Foods That Make Hot Flashes Worse When in the throes of a menopausal hot flash, we should rightly be given permission to strip naked and jump into a snowbank. For relief, conventional doctors often recommend hormone therapy for relief, but it has been linked to an increased risk for breast cancer, heart disease and stroke -- and a new study found that users had a 29% greater risk for ovarian cancer than nonusers. To discuss safer alternatives, I called Laurie Steelsmith, ND, author of Natural Choices for Women’s Health. She explained that you can minimize hot flashes by avoiding foods that are "warming" -- a classification that, surprisingly, has nothing to do with the temperature at which a food is served and often is not based on its level of spiciness. Rather, warming foods are those with a lot of yang or "hot energy." "According to traditional Chinese medicine, yin and yang are opposites or counterparts that exist everywhere in the universe. Yin is associated with cold, quiet, passivity, water and nighttime... yang is associated with heat, noise, activity, fire and daytime," said Dr. Steelsmith. Women tend to have more yin, while men tend to have more yang. At menopause, yin gets depleted -- in fact, estrogen and progesterone are both cooling yin hormones -- leaving an excess of yang. Stress exacerbates hot flashes because stress hormones such as cortisol are yang. Warming foods, which have more yang than yin, promote hot flashes because they create more of a yin/yang disparity than you already have. A food is deemed yin or yang based on centuries of tradition, the food’s innate traits and how it makes the body feel, Dr. Steelsmith explained -- not necessarily on whether it is hot or cold. The classification system is sometimes somewhat intuitive. For example, meat generally is more yang than fruits and vegetables (since mammals are warm-blooded and mobile while plants are cool and stationary). Some plant foods are more yin than others -- for instance, lettuce (which is soft and spoils quickly) is more yin than a carrot (which is hard and lasts a long time). Warming foods tend to grow in colder climates and vice versa, so a peach is more yang than a papaya. But: Sometimes there is no clear rationale. For instance, although trout is said to be particularly yang, many other types of seafood are not... and while most spices are yang, salt and a few others are yin. Admittedly, this gets complicated -- so instead of trying to figure out or remember which foods are yang, just print this article and post it in your pantry. You don’t want to avoid all yang foods since many are nutritious, but with trial and error you’ll see which ones trigger your hot flashes and which are OK for you. Yang foods to limit... Fruits: Cherries... coconuts... guavas... kumquats... lemons... lychees... peaches... raspberries. Vegetables: Cauliflower... mustard greens... onions... pumpkins... scallions. Grains/nuts/seeds: Chestnuts... pine nuts... pumpkin seeds... sticky (glutinous) rice... walnuts. Dairy: Butter... goat’s milk... yogurt. Meat/poultry/seafood: Anchovies... chicken... crayfish... lamb... lobster... mussels... shrimp... trout... venison. Herbs/spices: Anise... basil... caraway... cardamom... chives... cinnamon... cloves... coriander... dill... fennel... garlic... ginger... nutmeg... pepper... rosemary... saffron... thyme... turmeric. Miscellaneous: Alcohol... brown sugar... coffee... molasses... soybean oil... vinegar. Dr. Steelsmith explained that regular consumption of cooling foods that are more yin can reduce the number and severity of hot flashes (though eating them during a hot flash won’t have a quick enough effect to halt your heat wave). When you do eat a yang food, counterbalance its effects by having a cooling yin food at the same time. Yin foods to keep you cool... Fruits: Bananas... grapefruit... kiwifruit... loquats... melon... mulberries... oranges... papayas... pears... persimmons... plums... pomegranates... strawberries... tangerines. Vegetables: Alfalfa sprouts... asparagus... bamboo shoots... broccoli... burdock root... cabbage... celery... cucumbers... eggplant... lettuce... lotus root... kelp... mung beans... mushrooms... nori... radishes... spinach... summer squash... sweet potatoes... tomatoes... turnips... watercress. Grains/nuts/seeds: Barley... buckwheat... millet... wheat... wheat bran. Seafood: Clams... crab... octopus. Herbs/spices: Green tea... marjoram... peppermint... salt. Miscellaneous: Sesame oil... soy sauce... tofu... water. Many other foods are fairly equally balanced in yin and yang, Dr. Steelsmith noted. These are unlikely to affect hot flashes one way or the other. Neutral foods include... Fruits: Apricots... figs... grapes... pineapple... red dates. Vegetables: Beets... carrots... olives... peas... potatoes... string beans... yams. Grains/nuts/seeds: Almonds... corn... hazelnuts... oats... peanuts... rice... rye... sesame seeds... sunflower seeds. Dairy: Cheese... cow’s milk. Meat/poultry/seafood: Beef... duck... ham... oysters... pork... sardines... white fish. Miscellaneous: Eggs... honey... white sugar. Source: Laurie Steelsmith, ND, is the author of Natural Choices for Women’s Health (Three Rivers) and a medical reviewer for HealthyWoman from Bottom Line. Her private practice in naturopathic and Chinese medicine is in Honolulu. www.NaturalChoicesForWomen.com The Drugs No Senior Should Ever Take In 1991, a team from Harvard Medical School identified 20 drugs too dangerous for use by elderly patients. Then they found out that 23% of seniors are receiving these very drugs. And the Journal of the American Medical Association said this study was "merely the tip of the iceberg." They were right. Now the list has grown to several dozen drugs. Congress was so disturbed it asked its watchdog agency, the General Accounting Office, to look into it. Using Medicare data, the GAO found over 17% of the elderly receive unsafe drugs. Learn more... What Not to Do When a Loved One Is Seriously Ill Sooner or later, it happens to us all. We hear that a friend or family member has received a potentially life-threatening diagnosis. We want to be supportive, of course... but following our first instincts can sometimes cause unintended pain. Social psychologist Jessie Gruman, PhD, author of AfterShock: What to Do When the Doctor Gives You -- or Someone You Love -- a Devastating Diagnosis, knows this all too well. She has been on the receiving end of others’ well-meant but misguided attempts to provide comfort five times, during four bouts with cancer plus the diagnosis of a dangerous heart condition. Here are some common missteps to avoid and what to do instead... Don’t ignore the situation. Did you hear the bad news from a third party? Saying nothing to the person who is ill can make her feel as though you don’t care, Dr. Gruman said. In person or in a note, say, "I heard about your diagnosis. I’m very sorry, and I hope that everything turns out OK." In offering help, do not be vague or promise what you cannot deliver. Instead, make specific suggestions -- "May I bring dinner on Thursday?" or "If you need a ride to the oncologist, I’m free every Wednesday." If you are a close friend or relative, you might offer to coordinate a volunteer schedule for friends who want to help, using a list of everything your loved one thinks she’ll need assistance with (filling out paperwork, buying groceries, mowing the lawn). Resist the urge to bombard her with information from the Internet. There are credible Web sites that provide excellent information on specific illnesses -- but there are also inaccurate or misleading sites aimed at selling products or services, Dr. Gruman noted. Unless you have the skills to separate the wheat from the chaff, resist tossing medical advice at your loved one. Spare her your war stories. Of course, you know not to reveal that your aunt died of that particular disease. But neither should you say, "My aunt had your disease and lived to 100, so you’ll be fine." This discounts your loved one’s legitimate feelings of fear, sadness and loss. What does help: "I know several people who have had this disease and really liked their doctors. Would you like me to get information about these physicians?" Don’t preach optimism. Insisting that all will be well denies your loved one the chance to express how she’s really doing emotionally and thus makes her feel more alone. Nor is it helpful to say that her illness could be a life-transforming blessing in disguise... you can’t know whether that will be true. Simply acknowledge, "I know that you’re scared. I’m scared, too. But I love you and I’m here for you." Remember that this isn’t about you. If the ill person is a relative and the disease is genetic, you may worry about getting it, too. If she is someone whose help you rely on, such as a key coworker, her illness may be disruptive for you. Nevertheless, do not express these concerns to the patient herself -- she has enough on her plate. Find someone else with whom to discuss your situation. Guard her privacy. It can feel demeaning to the patient when everyone is talking about her personal information, Dr. Gruman noted. Ask your loved one what information she does and does not want you to share and with whom. Treat her like a regular person. Invite her to go out for lunch, attend a lecture or get manicures -- whatever you’ve always done together. If she’s not up to it, she’ll tell you. But by treating her like a normal person rather than a sick person, you remind her that, despite her illness, she remains a valued friend, relative or coworker... and that she has strengths, talents and experiences that will help her find her way through this difficult period. Source: Jessie Gruman, PhD, is founder and president of the Center for Advancing Health, a policy institute, and a professorial lecturer at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, both in Washington, DC. She blogs at www.PreparedPatientForum.org and is the author of four books, including AfterShock: What to Do When the Doctor Gives You -- or Someone You Love -- a Devastating Diagnosis (Walker). www.CFAH.org Mind-Boosting Secrets Ray Sahelian, MD, put the medical world in an uproar with his discoveries that turn ordinary people into super-brains -- and rapidly reverse "incurable" mental decline. Thousands of patients are proving now that his powerful therapies work, and skepticism is yielding to thunderous applause. Reverse age-related memory loss with stunning speed... even say good-bye to Alzheimer’s disease -- with Dr. Sahelian’s astonishing cure in a can... Read on... Infection Risk Alert for C-Sections If you or someone you love is pregnant, take note -- postsurgical infections can occur in an estimated 10% to 40% of women who deliver babies by Cesarean section (compared with an infection rate of 1% to 3% in women who deliver vaginally). To minimize infection risk, a mother undergoing a C-section has traditionally been given a dose of antibiotics, but not until after her baby is delivered and the umbilical cord clamped. This practice has been rooted in concerns that antibiotics given before delivery could get into the unborn baby’s bloodstream and mask any infection the infant might have... or cause the baby to become antibiotic-resistant. New guideline: Based on analysis of several large and recent studies, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) now recommends that all women having C-sections should receive a single dose of an antibiotic (such as cephalosporin) as a preventive within 60 minutes before surgery. Reason: Predelivery antibiotics significantly reduced infection rates in mothers without presenting any increased risk to newborns. Expectant moms: These are new suggestions from ACOG, so discuss presurgical antibiotic use with your obstetrician if you are planning to deliver by C-section. Source: William H. Barth, Jr., MD, is chair of the Committee on Obstetric Practice at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in Washington, DC. Tamara Eberlein, the editor of HealthyWoman from Bottom Line, has been a health journalist for nearly three decades. An award-winning author or coauthor of four books, she is committed to helping other women in midlife and beyond live healthy, fulfilling lives. Her latest book is the updated, third edition of When You’re Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads (HarperCollins). She is also the "chief health adviser" to her husband of 25 years, college-age twins and teenaged son. 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