Whatever you call them, from the age of 35 on, you might experience a ‘preview’ of what menopause usually brings on in full force!

Hot flashes are uncomfortable and sometimes even embarrassing – since that sudden onset of heat and perspiration seems to radiate from your body at the most inconvenient and unexpected times.

And if it seems like they tend to hit just as you start that major sales presentation – well, they are often aggravated by stress, so it is not ‘just’ nerves or your imagination – you really might be having a hot flash at the age of 40…….

Doctors estimate at least 85% of women in the United States experience hot flashes during menopause, but as many women have discovered – they can often start a lot earlier, in the perimenopause phase. Intensity can vary dramatically but generally include:

-Profuse perspiration
-Intense heat coming from your upper body and face
-Blotchy red face, neck, and upper chest
-Increased heartbeat
-A cold sensation as the hot flash stops

You’re probably aware that for women, the amount of estrogen being produced by your body decreases as you age. Scientists theorize that this decrease in estrogen signals the temperature-regulating part of your brain that your body is too hot.

Personally, when mine started I suddenly found myself realizing that spontaneous human
combustion was possibly more than an urban myth……….

As a result, your brain sets a whole chain of events into motion by sending urgent messages to various places in your body. Your heart is told to pump faster, the blood vessels in your skin told to enlarge and release the heat, and your sweat glands are told to turn on the sweat to cool you down and turn down the temperature. The immediate message is: cool it down.

But there is a light at the furnace door: hot flashes don’t last forever. They will reduce in frequency and intensity over time and eventually stop altogether.

It’s helpful to be aware of some common triggers that will set off a hot flash and turn on a blazing “super soaker”. Caffeine, chocolate, alcohol, and smoking are common hot flash igniters. Other culprits include spicy foods and hot weather.

In addition to avoiding some of these common triggers, here are several simple and natural ways to relieve the symptoms of hot flashes.

1. Fire Prevention. Start with turning your thermostat down. If family members or co-workers complain, try wearing lighter weight clothing made of 100% cotton. Cotton allows your body to breathe, letting the heat out and cooling you down faster.

2. Keep some ice water nearby. If you start to feel that prickly sensation of a hot flash crawling up your face, take a drink of cool water. It’s also not a bad idea to keep a fan nearby, either.

3. Keep Your Temper Cool. Research conducted on the brain indicates that stress is a major contributor to hot flashes. According to one recent study, stress causes the brain to release a chemical that stimulates the part of the brain regulating your temperature.

Health practitioners recommend daily stress reduction exercises such as meditation, yoga, massage, and breathing exercises. As a matter of fact, according to Sadja Greenwood, M.D., assistant clinical professor of gynecology at the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center, women who practice deep, slow, controlled breathing have fewer and less severe hot flashes than those who don’t.

4. Beat the Heat. Daily aerobic exercise will keep you ahead of your hot flashes — as well as keeping you healthy and fit. Regular 30-minute workouts release endorphins; hormones which tend to diminish in women as estrogen decreases.

Dr. Timothy Yeko, an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of South Florida suggests that an increase in endorphins helps to reduce the frequency of hot flashes and elevate good feelings. Just be careful not to exercise right before bed, because it could bring on a case of night sweats.

5. Extinguish the Burn with Foods and Supplements. Taking away some of the diet triggers such as caffeine, chocolate, and alcohol and adding soothing foods, vitamins, and herbs to your diet could help tame 3-alarm hot flashes. (I really can’t imagine chocolate not being good for me..)

Research has shown that eating foods made from soy products, such as soymilk, whole soybeans, tofu, and miso have reduced hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms greatly. Soy and other plants types contain isoflavones, an estrogen-like compound.

Adding Vitamin E has also been shown to help reduce hot flash frequency and severity. It can be found in wheat germ, wheat germ oil, safflower oil, whole-grain breads and cereals, peanuts, walnuts, filberts and almonds.

5. Ancient Heat Management Treatments. Herbs have been used for thousands of years to help treat a multitude of symptoms. Those recommended by many traditional as well as alternative health care practitioners for menopausal symptoms include dong quoi, ginseng, evening primrose oil, licorice root, black cohosh, sarsaparilla, spearmint, damiana, motherwort, chasteberry, red raspberry leaves, wild yams, fennel, and anise.

Susan Lark, M.D., medical director of the PMS and Menopause Self-Help Center in Los Altos, California believes these special “women’s herbs” have a weak regulating effect on estrogen and may help control hot flashes.

For most women “hot flashes”, “power surges”, or “raging hormones” are simply a crazy part of the aging process and part of being a woman. There’s no doubt they are an annoying and frustrating part.

But, 10-15% of women have menopause symptoms severe enough to seek medical attention. By all means, consult your doctor if necessary. In fact, all women should consult their healthcare practitioner before making any drastic lifestyle changes. With a little action on your part, a natural approach to taming your hot flashes may be all you’ll need to get through them.

During perimenopause, you might find yourself experiencing many of the common issues associated with full menopause, but in a milder or more infrequent version. Think of perimenopause as “menopause lite”!

During this time you might experience mild or sporadic hot flashes, vaginal dryness might begin, weight gain and mood swings. Many women that have had PMS during their life might never even notice the beginnings of perimenopause because the symptoms are often so similar to PMS.

Never had a pimple in your life? Adult onset acne might also start to become a problem during perimenopause.

The next period of time is the transitioning to actual menopause. During this time you may continue to have erratic periods and the “fun stuff” begins to settle in for a long visit. Yes, fun stuff like hot flashes, vaginal dryness, mood swings, weight gain, thinning hair and insomnia are some of the symptoms.

The final and actual onset of menopause usually occurs in your early 50s and is represented by the absence of your period for a full 12 months. It’s those in between years that can wreak havoc in your life.

Many of the ’symptoms’ of perimenopause and menopause can be helped with hormone replacement therapy (HRT) but many women are faced with the potential risks associated with HRT.

Are there natural alternatives for chemical HRT? The good news is yes! Unfortunately, less than two percent of doctors even mention alternative therapies and that most of them feel there is no benefit. Thousands of women would disagree. Here are just a few of the many natural alternatives:

Try adjusting your diet to include vegetables and fish that are high in Omega-3 as they contain nutrients that can help your body deal with menopause naturally. Conversely, there are foods that can make your menopausal symptoms worse. Caffeine, sugar, fatty dairy products, salt, alcohol and saturated oils can aggravate the symptoms.

Be sure and take a daily multivitamin making certain that the vitamin contains 100% of the daily allowance for nutrients. Just be aware that vitamins are no substitute for following a healthy diet – they are referred to as supplements for a reason!

If menopause or perimenopause causes mood swings, it only makes sense that it’s possible to experience extreme responses for stress. Try using deep breathing techniques, meditation or some other methods of relaxation that works for you and practice the technique for 10 to 20 minutes per day. You will be left feeling calmer, more able to cope and more in control.

Exercising regularly can also help alleviate menopausal and perimenopausal symptoms. Scheduling at least 30 minutes of exercise three times a week will relieve hot flashes. You will be able to think more clearly and reduce your risk of osteoporosis and heart disease.

Some women have found relief through yoga and acupressure. Both are mainstays of practitioners of eastern medicine.

Last, but not least, we come to herbal treatments. Beans and certain other plants have a mild estrogenic activity in their makeup thanks to “phytoestrogens.” These are compounds that include isoflavins, lignans, phytoseterols and saponins. In additional to helping your body through menopause, animal experiments show they are significantly effective in preventing tumors of the breast tissue.

Without sending you off for a medical dictionary to understand the compounds listed above, here are some of the foods and herbs that contain healthy compounds: Soy, black cohosh, licorice, alfalfa, chasteberry, Chinese angelica, red clover, strawberry, celery stalks, dates, elder, false unicorn root, fennel, Honduran sarsaparilla, lady’s slipper, liferoot, Mexican wild yams, passion flower, pomegranates and sassafras.

The foods, of course, are available from your local grocery. Visit your local health food store where you should be able to find the herbs and methods to include them in your daily diet.