6 Simple Ways to Ease Hot Flashes
What’s the best hot flash home remedy? Well, every woman is different, but science proves that these natural home remedies for hot flashes are some of the very best. Take your pick, and find the natural solution that work for you for one of life’s most annoying — and potentially embarrassing — symptoms of menopause.
Try the sage solution.
Sage is packed with antioxidants that keep the brain’s thermostat functioning properly, a reason that taking 25 drops of sage extract, three times daily, can cut hot ashes in half. Find the extract online at Amazon.com.
Eat flax to up hormone levels.
Consuming 1/4 cup of ground flax each day can reduce hot ashes 50 percent within one month, a recent study shows. Flax is rich in plant compounds that help prevent the estrogen dips that often trigger hot flashes, say UCLA researchers. Try it sprinkled on cereal or yogurt, or added to soups, smoothies, muffins or bread recipes.
Cool down with black cohosh.
In one study, women taking 40 mg. daily of the cohosh-containing supplement Remifemin experienced 85 percent fewer hot flashes. Like sage, it contains natural compounds that regulate the body’s internal thermostat.
Reach for the proven rhubarb remedy.
In a recent study, taking 4 mg. of rhubarb extract daily for 12 weeks significantly reduced the frequency and severity of hot flashes in premenopausal women.
Ask about a “new” Rx.
Taking the antidepressant venlafaxine (Effexor) reduces hot flashes and night sweats 48 percent — nearly as well as estrogen replacement therapy (53 percent), according to a recent National Institutes of Health study found. Talk to your doctor about the medication at your next appointment.
Want a no-cost cure? Try deep breathing.
The best hot flash home remedy might actually be free. Spending 15 minutes daily practicing “paced respiration” (taking six to eight slow, deep breaths each minute) cuts hot flash flareups in half. How? By improving function of the brain nerves that monitor and control body temperature, researchers say.
This story originally appeared in our print magazine.
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