A New Chapter in Women’s
Menopausal Health Care
All Herbal Formulas Are Not the Same
by Health Experts
at Healthy Living Magazine
 In
larger numbers than ever, Americans are turning to natural remedies.
On May 27, 2004, the Associated Press reported that a government study
of 31,000 Americans revealed that more than a third of them turned to
alternative medicine in 2002, in part because “many conditions are not
easily treated with conventional medicine,” and that more people are
using natural products such as herbs because they are “not getting
relief from conventional medicine.”
In particular, women’s hormonal balances,
premenstrual syndrome (PMS), inflammation (leading to heart disease
and cancer), and bone loss are all among those conditions that have
driven consumers to seek help from herbal formulations.
A June 22, 2004 article released by the National
Institutes of Health reports many problems that have arisen from
profit-driven pharmaceutical aids for the symptoms of menopause. In
spite of the fact that nationally recognized consumer leaders like
David Steinman (editor-in-chief of this publication) and Samuel S.
Epstein, M.D., in their book The Breast Cancer Prevention Program
(Macmillan, 1997), blasted hormone replacement therapy as being unsafe
for women years earlier, the Women’s Health Initiative Hormone trial
continued on until it was halted early in July, 2002 “when researchers
found an increased risk of breast cancer, along with greater risks of
heart disease, stroke, and blood clots, and determined that these
risks outweighed the benefits of reduced risks of hip fracture and
colorectal cancer.” Then, in February of this year, the estrogen-alone
components of the study were halted as well when it was found that the
participants’ risk of stroke had increased. The dangers of
conventional HRT have become so clear that the Food and Drug
Administration cautions women to use “the lowest effective dose for
the shortest time necessary.”
Naturally, women are turning more and more to
natural remedies to seek help for hot flashes, bone loss, and other
health risks and discomforts associated with menopause. Indeed,
according to the June 2004 Natural Foods Merchandiser, sales of the
all-important women’s herb Black Cohosh increased by 26.2 percent in
the last twelve months.
But Buyer Beware…
While herbal treatments have brought relief to
thousands of consumers, those seeking alternative care should also use
caution when making their choice. Recently, the World Health
Organization warned of unregulated and often unsafe use of alternative
medicines. According to the June 23 article, consumers often assumed
that “natural means safe.” Many herbs today are grown, harvested,
handled, and extracted using unsavory methods such as pesticides,
irradiation, and chemical solvents. More reason than ever to rely on a
company like New Chapter that puts safety first—including avoiding
these practices with their herbs while emphasizing supercritical
extraction processes that provide consumers with the power, potency
and goodness of the whole herb.
“For women seeking hormone balance at all ages as
well as a proactive anti-inflammation program, it’s also important to
have the right combination in a formula,” says Paul Schulick of New
Chapter, formulator of
Estrotone “I have 52-year-old wife and an 18-year-old
daughter,” says Schulick, simply. “Both can benefit from Estrotone and
use it with complete safety. I formulate for the people in my life.”
In addition to supporting pre- and postmenopausal
hormonal balance, Estrotone promotes normal cell growth, inhibits bone
loss, and promotes anti-aging within the body by inactivating free
radicals.
Hot Flashes Disappear—and Don’t Return
With
Estrotone, the experience women are having isn’t just minor
relief of their symptoms. It’s a full-blown,
hey-I’m-feeling-good-again sense of wellness that so many women
desperately seek as they deal with both PMS and menopause (sometimes
at the same time). Many herbal formulas use a combination of black
Cohosh, evening primrose oil and chasteberry. But the supercritical
extraction processes used for several of the major herbs in this
formula are designed to bring out all of their natural constituents.
Black Cohosh—Overcoming PMS, Menopausal Symptoms
and Dark Moods
Known also as squaw root, black snake root or rattle
weed, black Cohosh is a North American forest plant that can grow up
to eight feet tall. In Eastern woodlands, black Cohosh arises from a
gnarled, dark root. The entangled foliage rises up into a tall plant
bearing feathery, white flowers in graceful spikes. The flowers have a
puffy appearance, like clouds. Interestingly enough, black Cohosh gets
its Latin name (Cimicifuga racemosa) from its properties as a bug
repellant. Cimicifuga comes from cimex (a bug) and fugo (to drive
away). Its rank smell was used to drive insects away, which gave it
the common names of bugwort and bugbane.
Black Cohosh’s full-spectrum phytoestrogen
constituents, if they are to be compared with estrogens at all, have
effects like estriol, which is thought to be the safest of the
estrogens “not associated with increased risk of breast, ovarian or
endometrial cancers,” according to herbal expert the late Varro Tyler,
dean emeritus of the Purdue University School of Pharmacy and
Pharmacal Sciences.
The chemicals in black Cohosh seem to beneficially
suppress the body’s secretion of luteinizing hormone (LH). “High
levels of LH in the blood are often associated with menopausal
symptoms, including hot flashes, night sweats, headaches, heart
palpitations and drying and thinning of the vagina,” says Dr. Tyler.
(Also, women should consider use of New Chapter’s Supercritical
Omega7, which contains sea buckthorn to aid in maintaining healthy
vaginal mucosal membranes.)
Evening Primrose Oil for a Women’s Needs
Evening primrose oil is a botanical source of the
essential fatty acid gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) from the omega-6 fatty
acid family. This plant with its bright yellow flowers is actually a
member of the willow family—but has gotten its name from its flowers’
propensity to bloom at night and their resemblance to those of the
primrose. Evening primrose has been used for centuries for skin
conditions and wound healing, as well as for treating asthma,
gastrointestinal disease, and gynecological problems. Although it is
not the highest source of GLA (borage oil and black currant seed oil
are actually higher), experts have consistently found that evening
primrose oil, a Native American traditional remedy, eases female
symptoms more effectively than the higher GLA sources. In study after
study, women have found evening primrose oil to be outstanding for
irritability, mood changes, headaches, anxiety, and PMS and
perimenopausal discomforts such as fluid retention and breast
tenderness.
Chasteberry (Vitex) for PMS Symptoms
When dealing with premenstrual syndrome symptoms,
including nervousness, irritability, depression, bloating, breast
tenderness, weight gain, and skin and digestive problems, there is a
natural medicine chasteberry (Vitex agnus-castus ), a native of the
Mediterranean, whose berries have long been a traditional women’s
herb.
More than 1,500 women have participated in the
studies utilizing chasteberry. The studies are impressive, as is this
natural medicine’s impact on women’s hormonal balance. In a recent
study, a team of German investigators designed a controlled,
double-blind study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of chasteberry
compared with pyridoxine (vitamin B6, also used in treatment of PMS)
in 175 women suffering from PMS.
The women were randomized to receive daily treatment
with either chasteberry or 200 mg of pyridoxine. Treatment lasted
three menstrual cycles. Therapeutic responses were measured with
various standardized PMS scales and assessed by both patients and
physicians. Compared to pyridoxine, chasteberry users experienced “a
considerably more marked alleviation of typical [PMS] complaints, such
as breast tenderness, edema, inner tension, headache, constipation,
and depression.” Some 77.1 percent of women who took chasteberry
improved compared to about 60.6 percent of women using the vitamin.
Among their doctors, 80 percent rated both the vitamin and herb as
providing “adequate” benefits. In contrast, 24.5 percent of doctors
evaluated chasteberry therapy as “excellent,” compared to about half
that percentage (12.1 percent) who felt the vitamin provided
equivalent benefits.
Bolstering the reputation chasteberry has for
improved fertility, five women who used the herb became pregnant
during the study. Complications were minimal and included headache,
gastrointestinal and lower abdominal complaints, and skin problems. No
serious adverse events were report.
Schizandra Aids Detoxification - Long used in
Traditional Chinese Medicine, schizandra aids liver and kidney
function, which are critical to detoxification processes.
Rosemary for Memory - Not only is the
beautiful herb rosemary known for its antioxidant properties, it also
aids memory, thus helping to support neurological processes that can
keep dementia at bay.
Only Herbal Formula that Walks the Line &
Inhibits Cancer-Signal Enzymes: How Inhibiting 5-Lipoxygenase Can Save
Your Bones—and Your Life
You’ve probably not heard of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX).
But if you care about inflammation and its link to cancer, you’ll want
to know all about this enemy combatant. You will also want your
hormonal support formula to contain ginger. Ginger, to our knowledge,
is thus far the only compound, pharmaceutical or otherwise, that has
both anti-inflammatory and anti-ulcer properties, and is also the most
effective 5-LOX inhibiting agent known. Best of all, ginger is all
natural, free from worrisome side effects or unknown effects that must
be considered whenever a new drug is introduced.
When we asked Schulick just how important inhibiting
abnormal cell growth is, and how 5-LOX plays a role, he mentioned a
recent study from the University of Wales College of Medicine that
showed levels of 5-LOX were “particularly high in tumors from patients
who died of breast cancer.” Many additional studies are also
uncovering the 5-LOX-breast cancer link. Unfortunately, the American
diet, high in processed foods rich in the omega-6 fatty acid linoleic
acid, is thought to stimulate abnormal cell growth via the 5-LOX
pathway, so we need all the help we can get.
Why do we have such a dangerous enzyme working in
our bodies? Schulick explains that 5-LOX is only doing its job, and
that it only becomes dangerous in excess. “It’s like friendly fire,”
says Schulick. “We need the inflammatory (cell growth) process for
fighting infection, but in excess it’s like a thermostat that’s set
too high. Things start to grow, or burn.” Don’t we have to be
concerned about inhibiting the natural healing process of inflammation
too much? Not with herbs, says Schulick: “The beauty of herbal
formulas is that they inhibit wisely. They don’t completely inhibit to
the point that immune function would be compromised or that basic
housekeeping functions would be challenged, but instead, they do what
the body needs them to do. The body tends to pull, in its infinite
intelligence, the components it needs—but this only holds true for
natural substances. With aspirin, for example, the body can go to the
extreme and produce an asthmatic reaction, but with botanicals, for
whatever reason, there exists a wise inhibition in the body’s choices
of what components to pull.”
It is the inhibition of inflammation that also
aids in preventing bone loss. In response to inflammatory diseases
from peritonitis to osteoporosis to rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s
disease, bone loss has been documented to occur.
Estrotone—The Full Complex
New Chapter’s Estrotone represents the best in herbal
medicine. From the supercritical extraction processes that retain the
full herbal spectrum without using harmful solvents to their organic
ginger farm Luna Nueva in Costa Rica where much of New Chapter’s
ginger is grown, this is a company that cares—that embodies soul to
soul marketing, and that is producing formulas to inspire your body’s
full blossom of health. Try a New Chapter supercritically extracted
herbal formula and you will even enjoy the strong herbal scent. The
rich scent tells you right away, you are as close to the garden of
healing as is possible without journeying to the rain forest itself.
With Estrotone we’ve seen countless women experience complete hot
flash resolution within days of beginning supplementation—and the hot
flashes don’t return. We also like the fact that this formula
addresses PMS as well as bone loss and proactive cell health—all in
one formula.
How does New Chapter do it? The key is their
supercritical extraction process that leads to unparalleled potency of
the key ingredients (in this case, their ginger, evening primrose, and
rosemary). Just because a product calls itself an herbal formula
doesn’t mean it is as good and pure as all of the others. Savvy
consumers know to investigate the purity of the ingredients and to
look for fillers and binders, but they also need to be aware of how
much of the herb conventional extraction misses, and how dangerous it
can be. The supercritical process, unlike conventional extraction,
doesn’t use any solvents at all. Solvents like hexane (used in dry
cleaning) and acetone are commonly used in conventional extraction to
obtain the plant constituents that will not dissolve in water. These
constituents, or phytochemicals, are fatty or oily in nature, and will
only dissolve in fat-loving solutions. They are normally extracted via
chemicals or at heat beyond boiling, both of which damage the
phytochemicals. The other major grouping of phytochemicals can be
dissolved in water or ethanol.
While those phytochemicals that can be dissolved in
water have been extracted with relative success by conventional
methods, the fat-loving, or lipophilic substances have been subject to
several unacceptable results: residue of the solvent can remain in the
extract; high heat to break down the solvent residue can alter and
damage the phytochemical; the solvent can interact with the plant
constituents and distort them; or the constituents can become
otherwise unstable through extraction with solvents.
Instead of using such potentially harmful chemicals,
the supercritical extraction process uses compressed carbon dioxide, a
normal component of the air that we and all plants take in at every
moment. The “critical” part comes in at the precise temperature used
to maintain the CO2 at the perfect non-damaging heat that penetrates
deeply into the plant to dissolve the lipophilic constituents. “With
this process,” says Schulick, “there is no pollution, no heat stress
or damage, and no solvent residue. We obtain a broad, virtually
complete representation of the plant’s lipophilic constituents.”
It is this broad representation, and the potency
resulting from up to 250 pounds of herbs reduced to just one pound of
extract, that New Chapter believes is the reason
Estrotone has helped so many women to be completely free of
hot flashes.
Resources
For more product information about Estrotone by New Chapter, click
here.
Also, see
Bone Strength Take Care by New Chapter for whole food
bone-strengthening formula.
The statements contained in this article have not
been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The information
contained here is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent
any disease. Suggestions and ideas presented in this document are for
information only and should not be interpreted as medical advice,
meant for diagnosing illness, or for prescriptive purposes. Readers
are encouraged to consult their health care provider before beginning
any cleanse, diet, detoxification program, or any supplement regimen.
The information in this document is not to be used to replace the
services or instructions of a physician or qualified health care
practitioner. Please add this disclaimer to the FucoThin article I
gave you today.
References
“Treatment of osteopetrotic and osteolytic diseases
and diagnosis of inflammation-mediated bone loss.” Temple University
Non-confidential New Technology Announcement, reference number: 236SP.
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Jiang, W.G., et al. “Levels of expression of lipoxygenases and
cyclooxygenase-2 in human breast cancer.” Prostaglandins Leukot Essent
Fatty Acids, 2003;69(4):275-281.
Lauritzen, C., et al. “Treatment of premenstrual tension syndrome with
Vitex agnus-castus. Controlled, double-blind study versus pyridoxine.”
Phytomedicine, 1997;4(3):183-189.
Peteres-Welte, C. & Albrecht, M. “Menstrual abnormalities and PMS:
Vitex agnus-castus. ” Therapiewoche Gynakol, 1994;7:49-52.
Trebble, T.M., et al. “Laboratory markers predict bone loss in Crohn’s
disease: relationship to blood mononuclear cell function and
nutritional status.” Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics,
2004;19(10).
Tyler, V. “The bright side of black cohosh.” Prevention, April
1997:76-78. |
