8 Ways to Combat Menopause Hot Flashes Naturally

It's been a while, which I apologize for, but today we have a guest blog post from Stacey Rosen, CEO of a great company called At Last Naturals.

View her blog post below on 8 ways to combat menopause hot flashes naturally.

My name is Stacey Rosen, president and CEO of At Last Naturals.  I'm a long time reader of Yahoo Shine and excited to write my first blog post. Today's topic will be about natural ways to combat hot flashes, but will be creating more blog posts in the future.

There are many symptoms that come with menopause but the most talked about symptom is definitely hot flashes. Some women can experience up to a dozen hot flashes in just one day making it difficult to sleep and making it hard to focus on their daily activities. Hormonal Replacement Therapy is one effective way to relieve hot flashes but with that comes many side effects and risks. There are many alternative ways women are discovering everyday to relieve the severity of their hot flashes,. Some of the best and most effective ways are listed below.

1)      Dress Appropriately- Hot weather can make hot flashes even worse, by wearing cotton clothes and allowing your skin to breathe you can decrease both the occurrence and severity of these hot flashes, especially in the heat.

2)      Watch Triggers- Everyone is different and a variety of things can trigger hot flashes in different people. It is important to pay attention to what you were  doing or eating before your hot flash. You may begin to notice a trend and find out what your triggers may be. Common triggers are alcohol, caffeine, hot food, hot tubs, saunas, smoking, sugary food and spicy foods.

3)      Relax- Stress can also be a common trigger for hot flashes. Giving yourself just 10-15 minutes a day of complete relaxation can greatly decrease your amount of hot flashes. Yoga and many deep breathing exercises can  help relax your body and cool down.

4)      Flaxeed- Along with its laundry list of other health benefits, Flaxeed can reduce hot flashes and even ease other menopause symptoms. Consuming 1 tablespoon of ground flaxeed each day may not affect you immediately but after a month of two most people will experience extreme relief from hot flashes.

5)      Herbs- There are many herbs that are known to have estrogen-like properties that can help control your hot flashes. Some of these natural herbs include sage dong quai, red clover and the most effective and commonly used, black cohosh.

6)      Natural Progesterone Cream-  2% progesterone skin cream works in about 85% of perimenopausal women. Using as little as ¼ tsp once a day can begin to have a positive effect on hot flashes. This can be bought over the counter or it can be prescribed.

7)      Soy- In all forms soy can be beneficial but its recommended that you obtain soy from foods that contain it rather than from supplements. Tofu, tempeh, miso, soy milk, whole soybeans, texturized vegetable protein and soy power are all foods that naturally contain soy.

8)      Exercise- One of the more commonly effective natural relief is exercise. Exercising at least 30 minutes a day doing any kind of cardio even if its just simply taking a walk can help prevent hot flashes. Exercising improves circulation and can help your body to cool down more effective during a hot flash.