It isn't just female hormones that we should be concerned with.  Diet
affects our entire endocrine system - females and males.  Hormones are the
body's messengers.  Without these in proper amounts and balance, nothing
else matters - no message, no function.  I don't take herbs anymore; no HRT
since it almost killed me (and I DO mean that literally!); and I don't eat
meat that has hormones in it due to the bad affects on my body.  The same
hormones that adversely affect women can also have deleterious affects on
men.  So while a discussion of estrogen may seem like a women's issue, the
truth is it's a human issue.  Paleo won't cure everything - there is no such
thing as a true panacea.  But a proper diet goes a long way toward helping
us to live healthier lives.

"We have our arts; the ancestors had theirs...We cannot raise obelilsks a
hundred feet high in a single piece, but out meridians are more exact."
Voltaire


I hadn't thought an HRT/menopause discussion was appropriate fare for this
list, but since so many people responded and some asked to keep the
discussion on the list, I will pass on a few more comments.

I have had a lifetime of severe problems with hypoglycemia, sugar bingeing,
etc. which just got worse during the 20 years or so I tried to eat "healthy,
low fat, vegetarian foods." I also managed to balloon up to being about 60
or
70 pounds overweight while always "on a diet". Four years ago I switched to
a
low carb, Atkins sort of lifestyle, and gravitated more towards Paleo in the
last 2 years. I have lost 30 pounds, which is good, but seem to be pretty
much stuck here. Nevertheless, I feel so much better eating this way, and
enjoy the disappearance of so many health problems, I would never consider
abandoning this lifestyle (except for those
once-a-month-or-so-only-human-cheats.)

Anyway, I just assumed that since eating Paleo cleared up so many other
health issues that I wouldn't have any trouble when menopause hit. Boy, was
I
wrong! Eating Paleo keeps my blood sugar very stable and comfortable, but it
can never replace hormones that are being lost. My doctor (alternative style
MD) tells me that in most women, the adrenals take over secreting estrogen
to
some degree after the ovaries shut down. But in those with a history of
chronic fatigue syndrome, the exhausted adrenals fail to put out enough
estrogen and/or cortisol. The result, for me, has been the very sudden
onslaught of severe, disabling symptoms. Sure, hot flashes are annoying,
night sweats disrupt my sleep, but they are nothing compared to the
bone-crushing fatigue, severe heart palpitations, and cognitive problems
overwhelming me right now. I am using progesterone cream, taking
prescription
natural testosterone, Black Cohosh, etc. and about to begin taking triple
estrogen, a prescription form of natural estrogens that are bio-identical to
a woman's natural hormones.

I refuse to take HRT (horse estrogens).

My final thought- Every woman on Earth has only two choices: go through
menopause or die before you get there!

Maddy Mason
Hudson Valley, NY