Hot Flashes? 7 Simples Strategies to Stay Cool

by Robin Nielsen, Growing Younger Goddess

Little beads of sweat start forming under your eyes and your temples and then your wholebody instantly breaks out in moisture. Sometimes just a little bit and sometimes a lot. Maybe you’re in a business meeting or having a fabulous massage. Maybe your deep in dream land. You’re hoping no one notices as you break out in a sweat like you’re in a spinning class. What bad timing. Is there ever good timing?

What’s this all about? How can you be feeling just fine one minute and the next your blouse is drenched and you have to go change clothes or wipe your face off. Minutes later your body temperature is back to normal. A hot flash can be an occasional sensation of heat and sweating or regular waves of heat and drenching sweats.

Not only do we feel a little self-conscious, we also don’t feel so great because, according to Dr. Diana Schwarzbein, it’s a big surge of adrenaline.

Excess stress hormones out of balance with sex hormones and neurotransmitters (brain chemistry) are most often the root cause, and can go on for years if not addressed properly.

If you’ve never experienced a hot flash it’s hard to imagine or even understand and it’s different for every woman.

Exciting, yes, but not so fabulous! If you’ve experienced one you know what I mean. The onset of menopause (the actual end of menstruation) can bring on all sorts of interesting symptoms a woman may have never experienced before.

This time in life also has great potential for allowing a woman to understand and tap into her own power, according to Dr. Christiane Northrup.

This statement could give you hope if only you could get through the “hot flashes” part of the journey. They affect anywhere from 50-85% of women during their perimenopause and menopause years.

Hot flashes and Night Sweats

• Wake us up at night
• Can be embarrassing or feel awkward
• Are definitely uncomfortable
• Can be exhausting
• May lead to depression from lack of sleep
• Don’t feel so hot (pun intended)
• Remind us that something’s out of balance!
• Remind us to start living authentically

Here are 7 simple strategies to stay cool in the heat of the moment.

1. Get Sugar OUT of your diet. This is very helpful because sugar creates a stress response in the body which in turn can cause hot flashes. That means grains and added sugar of any kind. Focus on a low glycemic diet filled with whole, real foods like free range meats, wild caught fish, fresh, in season vegetables and fruits, greek style yogurt, eggs, nuts and seeds and legumes.
2. “86” the Coffee…and other stimulants because they raise stress hormones – dark chocolate may be in this category sad to say. Just say NO to the wine and
   beer and margaritas and enjoy them only on special occasions. Remember, if you want to play you have to pay!
3. Exercise in moderation (over-exercise can be stressful) to burn off excess stress hormones – yoga is especially helpful as it is de-stressing and raises our lovely calming neurotransmitter GABA. Slow sex (and sometimes even fast sex) is also a great stress reliever. Yum, yum!
4. Eat those healthy omega 3 fats! They are great for balancing hormones, supporting healthy brain function and modulating healthier cortisol levels, our stress hormone. Try wild caught salmon, sardines and ground flax seed. Also a great supplement like Super EPA Pro, 1000-2000 mg/day can be amazing.
5. Take a good multivitamin with lots of minerals. Sometimes just this alone will help your body to function better and remove some stress from poor nutritional status. Vitamin C and the full range of B vitamins are amazing for modulating stress.
6. Sleep and rest are key to allowing your body to heal and restore each day. Slow down and smell the roses. Let your body unwind and destress. Remember we are human beings not human doings.
7. Time. It’s as simple as that. Women need time to get things done or not. If we feel time pressure, it messes with our love hormone oxytocin. This in turn raises stress hormones and may give us a hot flash!

Listen to that wise woman inside you to stay cool. She knows exactly what you need.