Friday, November 21, 2008

Herbs For Menopause Can be Safe and Effective,good health

Are you wondering if herbs for menopause are safe and effective? A lot of women in menopause are looking for a way to avoid HRT because they are concerned about the risks and side effects. Fortunately, there are many herbs for menopause symptoms, including hot flashes, bloating, high blood pressure, insomnia and more.

Herbs for menopause will affect you differently than drugs. If you are used to drugs, you will find herbs to have more subtle effects. Some herbs will give you relief immediately, while some can take two to three months to notice a change.

Herbs for menopause can be used to balance your hormones, support your liver in doing all the extra work it has to do during the Change, recalibrate your stress response, and boost your nutritional intake.

Here are just a few examples of some symptoms of menopause and some herbs that can help:

Bloating, digestive problems - Gentian is a very bitter herb. It will help get your stomach juices flowing if you take it ten to fifteen minutes before eating. This can help with bloating and indigestion. You have to taste it for it to work, so you need to take it in tincture form. Ginger is an excellent herb for digestion. You can drink a decoction made from simmering a few slices of root in water for about twenty minutes, or use the tincture. Blue vervain and scullcap are two herbs that are relaxing and will help your digestive system to relax, which is when it works best. It shuts down under stress, so if you are under stress, these are a couple of good herbs to try.

Heart health - Heart health becomes very important during this time. If you have been exercising regularly and eating a heart-healthy diet (it may not be what you think – see http://www.natural-approaches-to-menopause.com/menopuase-diets.html for more info), you're ahead of the game. If not, there is no better time to start. Some herbs that can help with heart health are lemon balm, motherwort, and hawthorn.

High blood pressure - High blood pressure often arrives along with menopause. I had blood pressure ov 120 over 80 for years, but once I it menopause, it went sky high. Blue vervain, dandelion, garlic, ginseng, hawthorn, motherwort, nettles, and passionflower can all help with blood pressure. Blue vervain, motherwort and passionflower help by relaxing you. Dandelion supports your liver. Hawthorn is an excellent herb for overall heart health. Ginseng helps your body adapt to stress. Nettles is full of heart-nourishing minerals.

Hormone balancing - Pre menopause and menopause are times when you can easily lose your hormone balance. Hormones affected are adrenal, thyroid, progesterone and estrogen. Dong quai, ginseng, wild yam and vitex (chasteberry) are helpful for these conditions.

Hot flashes, night sweats – Often herbs in combination work best for hot flashes. You can try a combination of black cohosh, dong quai and wild yam. Maca root has worked for many women. Other herbs that work for hot flashes include chasteberry, and motherwort.

Insomnia – Blue vervain, chamomile, hops, motherwort, passionflower, and valerian are all helpful for getting you to sleep and helping you to stay asleep. Chamomile can be infused (pour boiling hot water over the dried leaves, cover and let steep for 2-4 hours) and drunk throughout the day. The other herbs can be used in tincture form.

The best way to take herbs is by drinking infusions (like a tea, only much stronger) or a few drops of tincture or extract several times a day. You can take them with or without food. Capsules are okay if you just can't stand the taste of a tincture, but you won't get the benefits of an infusion in a capsule.

If you're looking for a way to avoid hormone replacement therapy, or even just looking for some natural ways to work with your symptoms, herbs for menopause can be safe and effective.

About the Author
Candice Hughes studied herbal medicine at the Pacific School of Herbal Medicine in Oakland, CA. Do you want to learn more about which herbs to use and when?
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Lagundi Tea : Lagundi or Vitex negundo herbal

Lagundi Tea is an herbal tea that can be good in health especially if you have fever, cold, flu or it can be good in a cough or any viruses. The Lagundi Tea are made of the indigenous people in southern part of Philippines. This part of their livelihood program. As a Fair Trade Organization we need to help small and medium enterprise organizations.

Lagundi or Vitex negundo is a large shrub native to the Philippines which has been used as a traditional herbal medicine for centuries. It is commonly found in tropical, subtropical and also warm temperate regions throughout the world, especially in the Philippines.

Research on lagundi conducted by the Philippine Department of Health has suggested that the plant has a number of practical uses, and the use of lagundi is actively promoted by the government as a result. Outside of the Philippines, preparations of lagundi are sometimes available at stores which supply herbal medicines, or through practitioners of herbal and alternative medicine.

This plant is native to the swamps of the Philippines, where it can sometimes grow quite tall. It has a single thick, woody stem like a trunk, and the leaves appear palmately, in the form of five pointed leaves which splay out like the fingers of a hand. The leaves, root, flowers, and seeds of lagundi all appear to have medicinal values.

The use of five-leaved chaste tree for medicinal purposes has been known for a long time in China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Philippines and other Asian countries. Today, pharmaceutical companies in Japan are importing wild vitex negundo from Philippines. The root is reported to be tonic, febrifuge, and expectorant. The root is also used in a great variety of diseases: dyspepsia, colic, rheumatism, worms, boils, and leprosy. The flowers are used in diarrhea, cholera, fever, and diseases of the liver, and are also recommended as a cardiac tonic. The seeds make a cooling medicine for skin diseases and leprosy, and for inflammation of the mouth. The leaves are used as a tea for conditions like coughs and asthma.

Preparations of lagundi have been used for a wide variety of complaints traditionally, although scientific research has concentrated on its use for respiratory complaints. Lagundi is generally accepted in the Philippines to be useful for coughs, asthma symptoms, and other respiratory problems, and the Philippine government actively promotes it as an alternative to Western cough medicines. Some doctors also prescribe lagundi to assist in the treatment of asthma, as regular doses appear to reduce the strength of asthma attacks.

As an analgesic, lagundi also appears to have some efficacy. It has been compared to drugs like aspirin in trials which show that lagundi may be useful in the treatment of things like pain after dental extractions. Some people like to take lagundi before going in for extractions, in an attempt to pre-empt the associated pain and discomfort.



Lagundi is prepared by boiling it, steeping it, and then straining it. At home, people make lagundi teas from the leaves, often producing a large amount and bottling the excess to use later. Commercially, lagundi can be purchased in the form of syrup or capsules to make it easier to handle. It is also blended in with cough medicines and other herbal remedies.

As with other herbal medicines, lagundi should not be taken without consulting a doctor, as it may potentially conflict with other medications or it may be contraindicated for a particular condition. If your doctor is resistant to herbal treatments, you may want to seek out a practitioner who supports complementary medicine so that you can get sound advice about whether or not lagundi is safe for you.



Case Histories in Clients who use Lagundi:


The woman who stopped breathing
Margaret was shopping with her husband at a Mall and suddenly a woman wearing heavy perfume walked by. The perfume caused an acute asthma attack and at that time, Margaret had no enzymes with her. Her husband quickly opened up one cap of Lagundi, added it to water and gave it to his wife. She swished it around in her mouth and then swallowed it. In just three minutes, Margaret could breathe. He gave her a second cap. In ten minutes she could walk. She has not been to the emergency room since Lagundi.


The woman who had a bad day
A friend of Margaret came to visit with her three inhalers. A life-long asthmatic, she was having a bad day and could hardly breathe. Margaret quickly gave her two caps of Lagundi. Within five minutes, her friend was breathing more steadily. Within 15 minutes, she had stopped wheezing.


The woman who had a sudden and unexpected attack
I had an acute asthma attack. I took 4 caps of Lagundi and within 10 minutes, I was breathing normally. This stuff is great. KN, Worcester, MA


The client who couldn’t breathe or smell
I have asthma and sinusitis. My results with Lagundi were positive. It saved my life. I do not have to use antibiotics or prednisone anymore. AB, Redwood City, California


The woman who had major sinusitis

I really think Lagundi has made a major difference in my overall sinusitis, congestion and general shortness of breath. In addition, my therapist’s work indicated that Lagundi was supplying me with minerals my body needed, for support of the immune system and for the body generally. I believe the Lagundi also mitigated the effects of a bad cold I got, just as I started using Lagundi. Using Lagundi twice daily seems to be enough now. If I take too much, I get slightly nauseous. I love the stuff and I hope others have the positive results that I have had. Bless you all and thank you. I am beginning to feel healthy for the first time in many years. PH, Sebastopol, CA


The man who got the flu
I have a friend whom I visited. When I arrived, he was flat on his back, feeling very sick, with a high fever and sore throat. I gave him 3 Lagundi. Within one hour, the fever was gone and he got up and fixed dinner for me. After dinner, I gave him 3 more Lagundi. He continued Lagundi for two more days and the flu never took hold. SM, Cottage Grove, OR

The woman who prevented getting the flu

I woke up one morning with a sore throat feeling like I was coming down with the flu. I didn’t want to miss school so I took 3 Lagundi plus SvG (for a sore throat) plus my regular enzymes, which include Kdy, TRMA, as well as Citricidal. I also took come Colostrum Caps. I took these supplements 3 times daily. Never once did I have to lie down and I didn’t miss any school. VF, Eugene, OR


Thank natural to make herbals for good life!

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