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The Top 6 Ways That Red Clover Balances Hormones
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There is no question that women have a lot to deal with whenever hormones are involved. Once you know everything about hormones you will be able to see the exciting breakthroughs in new items that can help deal with your hormones without medical assistance.
What are hormones?
Hormones are located in the body and are part of the endocrine glands. They handle everything from your reproductive system to determining when you are hungry. Besides the functions they oversee, they also are in charge of what type of emotions you are feeling. There are many different kinds of hormones and each has a specific job to do.
Some of the hormones deal with functions that are primarily limited to women and have to do with the symptoms and side effects of being menopausal. Menopause represents the end of a woman’s reproductive system and comes with everything from anxiety and mood swings to hot flashes and unexplained night sweats.
While many women feel as though going through menopause is like going through a torture chamber, some women are able to get through it without any symptoms at all. However, more women than not end up with extra weight on their body, low energy, horrible mood swings, plus problems with depression, sleeping, and anxiety.
Red clover has been around since the ancient Celts found out that it was able to help out with hormonal issues. The people during this time thought of it as a sacred, even magical, herb. But after many years and much research, this magical herb was found to have isoflavones, which are plant compounds that balance hormones.
They attach to the receptors in the estrogen levels and mimic the effects of the estrogen. With the isoflavones being apoptogenic, it was discovered that they are able to sense exactly what the body needs, and they make their response based on that information. When the hormone levels drop, isoflavones step in. If the levels of the estrogen are too high, they make sure to block any stronger forms of estrogen. It has been determined by medical professionals that red clover is so strong it could possibly replace the current hormone replacement therapy available through pharmaceutical channels.
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Researchers have discovered that the use of red clover has had such positive results in helping deal with hormonal issues they are encouraging more and more women and men to try it out in place of their regular medications.
1. Helps deal with the symptoms of menopause
The Gynecological Endocrinology journal published their findings regarding the effect of red clover on menopausal women. In the study, 60 women who were all over the age of 40 had a Blatt-Kupperman Menopausal score of 15. This means they had the same levels of menstrual symptoms.
Each of the women either received a supplement of 80 milligrams of red clover daily for the next 90 days or a placebo. After 90 days, there was a week of rest, and then the groups switched treatments for the next 90 days. The conclusions showed that the red clover decreased the overall symptoms of menopause significantly, and the scores improved by 78 percent as opposed to the 23 percent increase from the placebos.
2. Reduces hot flashes
Hot flashes usually are a common problem for women going through menopause. The problem has come up with women who survived breast cancer, but ended up in early menopause because of the effects of their surgery and the chemotherapy. Breast cancer survivors are not good candidates for hormone replacement therapy because it has been found that estrogen may be responsible for giving women breast cancer. Instead, these women were given 80 mg of red clover every day to deal with their hot flashes. The red clover lowered the hot flashes by 44 percent and their other symptoms decreased by 13 percent.
3. Eliminates bone loss
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition ran a double-blind study that was randomized and consisted of controlled placebos. The study tested how well the isoflavone supplements of red clover dealt with bone density. The group consisted of 295 women from 49 years old to 65 years old. By the end of a 12-month period the group receiving the red clover supplements had a higher reduction in the bone density in their spines in the lumbar region.
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4. Cuts down on the risk of breast cancer
The British Journal of Nutrition discovered that red clover had a specific isoflavone called biochanin A that was able to reduce the risk of breast cancer by combating aromatase, an enzyme that oversees the effect of androgens converting to estrogen. The results of this study showed that the biochanin A from the red clover reduced the activity of the aromatase.
5. Reduces chances of prostate cancer
After lung cancer, the next condition that was responsible for the death of men was prostate cancer. A test was conducted to determine if the isoflavones from red clover were able to get control of this disease. A study brought together 38 Australian men with prostate cancer to work with the red clover. Before the men had surgical procedures, 20 of them were given 150 mg every day of the isoflavones from the red clover. The end result showed that the death of the cancer cells was much higher that the placebo group. They found no side effects, and the isoflavones were recognized for stopping the progression of prostate cancer.
READ ALSO: 11 Powerful Foods For Balancing Your Hormones Naturally Infographic
6. Cuts down on cardiovascular disease
Another study in Austria tested whether the use of red clover was able to reduce the level of inflammation as well as stop cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis. The study showed this to be true, and red clover was able to make improvements on the effects of cardiovascular disease, which is one of the top reasons people die prematurely worldwide.
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