How Soy Affects Hormones and Health
Soy contains phytoestrogens or “plant-estrogens,” which sounds bad but by out-competing estradiol, phytoestrogens can have a beneficial anti-estrogen effect in women of reproductive age.
That’s why soy and other phytoestrogens can make periods lighter and improve estrogen excess symptoms such as PMS and heavy periods.
How to Survive the Great Progesterone Crash of Perimenopause
In your forties, you may find you don’t cope as well with stress. It happens because losing progesterone during perimenopause can destabilize the HPA (adrenal) axis or stress response system.
This recalibration of the nervous system is why perimenopause is associated with an increased risk of anxiety, depression, and insomnia.
Body-Identical Hormone Therapy for Perimenopause and Menopause
Bio-identical or body-identical hormone therapy is hormone therapy that uses estradiol and progesterone exactly identical to the body’s own hormones.
It’s a modern type of hormone therapy and quite different from old types of hormone replacement therapy such as Premarin and Provera.
Here’s what you need to know.
Why a Vegan or Plant-Based Diet Can Be a Problem for Periods
A vegan or exclusively plant-based diet can make periods lighter and less painful but it can also cause irregular periods due to impaired ovulation and low progesterone.
The problem is not that phytoestrogens cause high estrogen. In fact, phytoestrogens have a generally anti-estrogen, period-lightening effect. The main problem with a vegan diet is that is can cause long-term depletion of important women’s health nutrients such as zinc, iodine, vitamin A, and taurine.
Is It PCOS or Hypothalamic Amenorrhea?
PCOS is the condition of androgen excess when all other causes of androgen excess have been ruled out. It can be associated with irregular periods or no periods.
Hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA) is the loss of periods due to undereating. It can also present with mild acne or facial hair.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Cannot Be Diagnosed by Ultrasound
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) cannot be diagnosed by ultrasound because polycystic ovaries are not cysts. They’re follicles or eggs which are normal for the ovary.
It’s normal for all women to sometimes have a higher number of follicles. It’s normal for young women to always have a higher number of follicles because young women have more eggs. That’s why the new international PCOS guidelines state that “ultrasound is now not recommended in diagnosis in those within 8 years of the start of periods.”