By Jack Challem
Copyright 1998 by Jack Challem, The Nutrition Reporter™
All rights reserved. This article originally appeared in Let's Live magazine.
You look in the mirror and you know your body is different from that of the men in your life. You might share some common risks, such as for heart disease, but having a woman's body sets the stage for some distinctly "female" disorders.
Many women's health problems, from premenstrual syndrome to breast cancer, share common roots. Chief among them is the overproduction of the hormone estrogen - actually, a group of 20 related hormones. Because estrogen influences so many women's problems, sound prevention and treatment strategies often center on similar themes as well. You can manage your body's estrogen levels with a combination of wholesome foods and natural supplements - safe and effective ways to take charge of your health.
This Let's Live women's health primer describes some of the most troubling health problems women face - and promising nutritional treatment. Although they're organized by age, real life can't be boxed so neatly. You can suffer many of these health problems at any age.
Gateway to Womanhood
Ages 11-25
The increase in estrogen production during puberty makes you sexually attractive and capable of bearing children. But estrogen can also be the bane of your existence.
Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS): If you're a teenager, consider yourself lucky - for now. You'll probably be spared PMS symptoms, which include irritability and other mood changes, bloating, breast tenderness, and cramping. PMS gets worse with age and is likely related to cumulative estrogen exposure.
Your ancestors' diets likely included a natural way to manage estrogen levels: a group of beneficial nutrients called isoflavones. Found most abundantly in soy foods and other legumes (beans), isoflavones are very weak estrogens. They attach to your cells' estrogen receptors and block the cell-proliferating effects of the more potent hormone - in effect, acting as antiestrogens. The typical American diet today contains almost no isoflavones, and their absence may allow your body to over-produce estrogen.
You can improve this situation by eating more soy foods, such as soy milks and soy-based meat substitutes, or by taking isoflavone supplements. Recent studies have found that soy foods - a serving or two daily - or supplements can ease PMS symptoms. Soy foods also increase the length of the menstrual cycle by a couple of days, meaning you'll have fewer periods during your childbearing years.
In addition, some of the B complex vitamins - particularly choline, inositol, and vitamin B6 - help the liver break down estrone, the predominant estrogen hormone, into estriol. Estriol is considered the safest form of estrogen because it's least likely to cause cancer. Some research also shows that evening primrose oil, rich in the essential fatty acid gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), can relieve PMS symptoms. In effect, supplemental B vitamins and GLA restore some of the nutrients frequently missing in modern diets. (For dosages, see box.)
Bacterial Vaginosis: The vagina contains a colony of beneficial bacteria that discourage the growth disease-causing germs. These good bacteria can be hurt by antibiotics, high-sugar diets, stress, and sometimes unprotected sexual activity. Under such circumstances, you might become more susceptible to bacterial vaginosis - a bacterial infection of the vagina.
It's important to prevent or treat bacterial vaginosis. Untreated, it can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, a leading cause of sterility. The best treatment for bacterial vaginosis is often not antibiotics - they can make the infection worse by killing off more of the good bacteria. Several studies have reported that eating a cup of "live-culture" yogurt daily can often correct bacterial vaginosis.
Yogurt is rich in Lactobacillus acidophilus, the same species of beneficial bacteria that dominates in a healthy vagina. How does L. acidophilus get from the intestine (where yogurt is digested) to the vagina? One researcher says that the good bacteria migrate from the rectum to the vagina and establish new colonies. You can also try "probiotic" capsules - each capsule contains billions of good bacteria.
Yeast Infections: William Crook, M.D., of Jackson, Tenn., points out that yeast infections were rare before antibiotics became commonplace. Antibiotics kill many of the good bacteria that inhabit the intestine and vagina, and Candida albicans (yeast) often fills the void. Yeast infections can depress a woman's immune system, making her susceptible to many other infections. Sometimes, they can also mimic or aggravate many conditions, such as headaches, not typically associated with yeast infections. Recently, Italian researchers reported that women contracted yeast infections from working in a bakery.
How do you treat a yeast infection? First, if you're regularly taking antibiotics, such as tetracycline for acne, wean yourself off them. Two, eat fermented foods, such as yogurt, rich in beneficial bacteria that can restore the normal vaginal environment. Strange as it might sound, some studies have found that topical application of yogurt helps. Three, cut back on your sugar consumption, including soft drinks and candy bars. Sugar is a prime food for Candida, encouraging its proliferation. Olive leaf extract may also help in yeast infections. If all else fails, ask your physician for a prescription for Nystatin, an antifungal drug that has a long history of safe use.
What to Take
Daily Dose
Soy foods: 1-2 servings daily
(Soy isoflavones: 40-160 mg)
Choline and inositol: 250-500 mg each
Vitamin B6: 20-50 mg
Yogurt: 1-2 servings
(Probiotics: 1-2 capsules or tablets)
The Childbearing Years
Ages 26-40
Life in the 1990s has created unprecedented pressures of women, who often must juggle their roles as worker, wife, and mother. Stress can sidetrack you from a wholesome diet and make you more susceptible to disease.
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID): PIDs caused by either an infection or generalized inflammation, can scar your reproductive organs and leave you sterile. Carolyn DeMarco, M.D., of Toronto, points out that more than 1 million American women contract PIDs each year. If you have had one PID, you have a one-in-six chance of becoming sterile. With three or more PIDs, the risk of sterility increases to one in two.
PIDs are difficult to diagnose, and they need to be treated in three stages, according to DeMarco. First, the seriousness of the infection warrants antibiotic treatment. (Plan on eating yogurt or taking probiotics to restore normal bacteria to your intestine and vagina.) Second, if you has a regular sexual partner, he should be treated so he doesn't reinfect you. Third, if you douche frequently, stop. Jun Zhang, M.B., Ph.D., reported in the American Journal of Public Health that frequent douching increased the risk of PID. Fourth, you can use various nutrients to reduce the risk of PIDs scarring your reproductive organs and to promote healing.
As a general rule, antioxidant nutrients - which include vitamins E and C, flavonoids such as Pycnogenol, and carotenoids such as beta-carotene - are antiinflammatory nutrients. Also, the omega-3 fish oils are powerful antiinflammatory nutrients (helpful in arthritis as well). To get large amounts of the omega-3s, consider eating salmon two to three times a week or taking fish oil capsules.
Preeclampsia: Preeclampsia is a toxemia of pregnancy characterized by high blood pressure, headaches, and water retention. It can be a prelude to eclampsia, which is far more serious and can result in convulsions, coma, and death if not treated.
Several studies have found that preeclampsia tends to occur in women who consume relatively low levels of antioxidant nutrients. In one study, Magdy S. Mikhail, M.D., of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York City, compared antioxidant levels in 30 women with preeclampsia to those in 44 women with uncomplicated pregnancies. Blood levels of vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene were significantly lower among women suffering from preeclampsia. These nutrients help the liver break down toxins, and it's possible that women with an inadequate intake of these nutrients aren't able to break down these toxins. As a preventive, consider taking an antioxidant formula, multivitamin, or prenatal supplement.
Birth Defects: Women who want to be mothers often harbor a fear of delivering an infant with birth defects. Cerebral palsy, a type of brain damage, is caused by a stressful delivery, and low-weight newborns are at particular risk. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that intravenous magnesium sulfate dramatically reduced the risk of cerebral palsy and mental retardation in infants. A prenatal multivitamin/multimineral supplement, with magnesium, may also help reduce the risk of cerebral palsy.
Spina bifida occurs when the developing brain and spinal column fail to close during the first month of gestation. Mild cases may be marked only by a tuft of hair at the bottom of the spine, whereas the spinal cord is exposed at birth in more serious cases. Nerve damage, paralysis of the lower body, and a lack of bladder control are common consequences.
Deficiencies are folic acid and vitamin B12, which play roles in normal cell growth, are the principal causes of spina bifida. Some people inherit a genetic defect in the body's enzyme responsible for folic acid utilization, but high doses of supplemental folic acid seem to overcome this defect. The March of Dimes recommends that all women of childbearing age take folic acid supplements. Better yet, shore up your nutrition a high-potency multivitamin supplement that includes at least 400 mcg of folic acid.
Down syndrome is caused by an irreversible genetic defect, but the degree of mental and physical retardation can be reduced through aggressive dietary supplementation. In the 1960s and 1970s, the late Henry Turkel, M.D., found that an high doses of a broad range of vitamin, mineral, and amino acid supplements, could improve the intelligence and physical appearance of children with Down syndrome. The use of high-dose vitamin supplements seems to overcome many of the problems caused by the genetic defect. (For details on the Down syndrome treatment, contact the Autism Research Institute, 4182 Adams Ave., San Diego CA 92116.)
Endometriosis: In endometriosis, some of the cells that normally line the inside of the uterus migrate outside the organ, group together as tissues, and attach to the ovaries, cervix, appendix, bowel, and bladder. Like other endometrial cells, they're sensitive to the cell-stimulating effects of estrogen. As menstruation approaches, all endometrial tissues engorge with blood, thicken, and cause severe pain.
The key here, as in many other health problems related to a woman's reproductive system, is lowering estrogen levels. Eating a diet high in soy and other legumes should help. Other estrogen-modulating compounds are naturally found in fruits and vegetables, and the increase in endometriosis and other estrogen disorders may reflect diets low in these nutrients.
Most soy foods contain isoflavones, but soy oil does not. Other legumes contain respectable amounts of isoflavones. If you don't like these foods, consider taking isoflavone supplements or the herb black cohosh, which is also rich in these natural estrogens.
John Lee, M.D., author of What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause (Warner Books, 1996), favors the use of natural progesterone creams, which can offset high estrogen levels. Apply a small amount of the cream, available at health food stores, to your breasts and buttocks. Be sure to buy progesterone cream - plain yam cream has no hormonal effects.
Cervical Dysplasia: This condition, which refers to abnormal cells in the cervix, is precancerous but reversible. Folic acid, a B vitamin, plays an essential role in normal cell replication, and it can correct cervical dysplasia. But people are rarely deficient in a single nutrient, and a diagnosis of cervical dysplasia may be better interpreted as a sign that many things are amiss with your health.
If you have had a variety of sexual partners, you are at a higher risk of cervical dysplasia and cervical cancer. The risk is related in part to unprotected sex, but also linked to sex with men who consume relatively few antioxidant nutrients. A recent study in Andrologia reported that women were more likely to develop cervical dysplasia when the sperm of their partners contained high levels free radicals and relatively few antioxidants. Apparently, excess free radicals in sperm can damage cervical cells. So, encourage your sexual partner to eat antioxidant fruits and vegetables and to take an antioxidant supplement.
You should be able to reverse cervical dysplasia by taking a high-potency multivitamin containing the B vitamins and various antioxidants. But with a condition that increases your risk of cancer, it's smart to reassess your overall diet: increase your intake of fruits and vegetables and cut down your consumption of fats and sugars.
What to Take
Daily Dose
High-potency multivitamin (Follow label directions)
Soy isoflavones: 40-160 mg
Folic acid: 400-800 mcg
Vitamin B12: 500-1,000 mcg
Omega-3 fatty acids: 1,000-1,500 mg
Vitamin E: 200-400 IU
Vitamin C: 1,000 mg+
Beta-carotene (or mixed carotenoids): 10,000-25,000 IU
Pycnogenol: 25-50 mg
Magnesium: 400 mg
Progesterone cream (Follow label directions)
A Time of Change
Ages 41-55
By your early 40s, the inevitable signs of aging appear, along with the risk of more serious diseases. Menopause brings with more hormonal changes - puberty in reverse, according to Susan Love, M.D., of Los Angeles - and may increase the risk of some diseases.
Menopause: If you're entering menopause, your doctor will probably recommend estrogen-replacement therapy. Susan Love, M.D., of Los Angeles, contends that doctors routinely dismissed menopausal symptoms as "in the head" until they - and the big drug companies - realized they could make money by redefining a natural process as a condition needing hormone therapy.
Don't make any quick decisions about estrogen-replacement therapy. While it can ease hot flashes, it also increases your risk of breast and endometrial cancers. Most women who start taking estrogen-replacement therapy stop within a year because of severe gastrointestinal pain.
Marcus Laux, N.D., author of Natural Woman, Natural Menopause (HarperCollins, 1997), points out that Asian women eating high-soy diets rarely suffer from menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes and cold sweats. In studies presented at the Second International Symposium on the Role of Soy in Preventing and Treating Chronic Disease, held in 1996, in Belgium, researchers reported that isoflavone supplements greatly reduced the number and intensity of hot flashes in menopausal. The supplements likely restore nutrients missing from the typical Western diet.
Adding soy foods, legumes, or isoflavones can be considered a natural form of hormone-replacement therapy, and they may be the most important steps you can take to relieving menopausal symptoms. Also, consider taking the herb black cohosh and applying progesterone cream.
Breast Cancer: Although breast cancer accounts for only three percent of the deaths among American women, virtually all women fear its disfiguring consequences.
Ninety percent of all breast cancer cases are unrelated to inheriting the so-called breast cancer genes. The major risk factors are aging, diet, and lifestyle. With aging, the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) that forms your genes becomes damaged by free radicals - and damaged DNA is more likely to result in abnormal and cancerous cells. While the aging process is inevitable, its speed can be slowed, as can be damage to breast cells. Breast tissue in particular contains large amounts of fats, which are especially prone to free radical damage. Vitamin E is the most powerful fat-soluble quencher of free radicals, and studies have shown that high vitamin E intake lowers the risk of breast cancer.
Decreasing overall fat intake can reduce your risk of breast cancer. In an article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Norman F. Boyd, M.D., of Toronto, Canada, reported that low-fat diets decreased the amount of "dense" breast tissue in just two years. Large amounts of dense tissue, visible on mammograms, is strongly associated with breast cancer risk.
The type of fat you eat is important as well. Corn oil and safflower oil - two common cooking oils - promote the growth of breast cancers. Conversely, omega-3 fish oils slow breast cancer growth in animal experiments. In an study conducted by John A. Glaspy, M.D., of the University of California, Los Angeles, and described in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, a combination of low-fat diet and omega-3 supplements increases levels of this protective nutrient in breast tissue.
Once again, there is compelling evidence supporting the benefits of a diet rich in soy isoflavones and related compounds called lignans. In an Australian study of 288 women, published in the Oct. 4, 1997, Lancet, researchers found that diets high in isoflavones and lignans were associated with a low risk of breast cancer.
What to Take
Daily Dose
Soy isoflavones: 40-160 mg
Black cohosh: 2-4 mg dried extract of Cimicifuga racemosa
Progesterone cream: Follow label directions
Vitamin B1: 25-50 mg
Vitamin B6: 20-50 mg
B-Complex: "B-25" or "B-50" formula
Omega-3: fatty acids 1,000-1,500 mg
Vitamin E: 200-400 IU
Aging Gracefully
Age 56 and Beyond
Our society doesn't seem to know what to do with older women. But healthy and unburdened with small children, older women can lead creative and productive lives. The key is steering a course that keeps you in good health.
Osteoporosis: Estrogen promotes the formation of bone in women, and low post-menopausal estrogen production increases the risk of osteoporosis. Estrogen-replacement therapy, which is aggressively marketed by drug companies, can increase bone density, but it can also increase the risk of breast and endometrial cancer.
Common supplemental nutrients offer bone-strengthening benefits without the risks. In a recent study, Bess Dawson-Hughes, M.D., of Tufts University, gave either calcium and vitamin D supplements or dummy pills to 389 men and women ages 65 and older. People receiving the calcium (500 mg/day) and vitamin D (700 IU/day) had impressive increases in bone density after just one year, and the benefits continued to accrue during the three years of the study.
While calcium and vitamin D get much of the attention in bone development, other nutrients play important roles. James Sadowski, Ph.D., reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that 420 mcg of vitamin K daily improved bone density is less than two weeks. Vitamin B12 and the mineral boron also play roles in building bone.
Again, soy isoflavones can help. Although isoflavones block the cell-proliferating effects of hormonal estrogen, they are estrogenic enough to increase bone density. In Europe, a synthetic isoflavone, ipriflavone, is often prescribed as a treatment for osteoporosis. But there is evidence that the isoflavones found in soy promote strong bones. Mark Messina, Ph.D., a nutritionist and soy researcher in Port Townsend, Wash., says he can envision the day when isoflavones might be combined with calcium and vitamin D as an anti-osteoporosis pill.
Heart Disease: Believe it or not, you are 10 times more likely to die from heart disease than breast cancer. With most women reluctant to take estrogen-replacement therapy, some of the drug companies have recommended estrogen-replacement therapy to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. There are, however, safer and more effective ways to keep your heart healthy.
Chief among them is vitamin E. In a double-blind study, British researchers found that 400-800 IU of natural vitamin E (which is more effective than synthetic forms) reduced the risk of heart attacks by 77 percent. Beta-carotene and lycopene can lower cholesterol levels, and vitamin E prevents free radical damage to cholesterol, considered an early stage in the development of heart disease.
There are many factors that influence heart disease. Folic acid and other B vitamins prevent heart disease through another mechanism - by preventing the build up of homocysteine in the blood. Homocysteine is a compound that damages blood vessel walls and may even set the stage for cholesterol deposits. The B vitamins help the body break down excess homocysteine.
Soy isoflavones - which can often seem like a miracle nutrient - protect the heart, according to research by J. Koudy Williams, D.V.M., of the Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, N.C. In female (though not male) monkeys eating a high-fat diet, soy isoflavones enhanced the ability of heart muscles to relax. "These findings contribute to the growing body of evidence suggesting that a dietary supplement potentially may provide a viable alternative to traditional hormone replacement therapy," Williams wrote in Fertility and Sterility.
What to Take
Daily Dose
Soy isoflavones: 40-160 mg
Folic acid: 400-800 mcg
Vitamin B12: 500-1,000 mcg
B-Complex: "B-25" or "B-50" formula
Vitamin E: 400 IU
Calcium: 500-1,200 mg
Vitamin D: 400-800 IU
Vitamin K: 100-420 mg
Boron: 1 mg
The information provided by Jack Challem and The Nutrition Reporter™ newsletter is strictly educational and not intended as medical advice. For diagnosis and treatment, consult your physician.