As women age, their natural production of hormones such as estrogen and progesterone declines. These hormonal imbalances give rise to a host of unpleasant menopausal symptoms, including hairloss, and accelerate various aging processes.
Estrogen and/or phytoestrogen replacement does more than mitigate the unwanted effects of menopause. Researchers have found that estrogen replacement confers a variety of benefits in addition to stopping hormone related hairloss. It helps in maintaining firm skin and muscle tone, supporting healthy sexual function, and producing greater feeling of well being. Doctors typically prescribe estrogen to ameliorate menopause related hairloss.
For years menopausal women relied on estrogen drugs to stop menopausal symptoms including hairloss. Yet concern about the life-threatening of hormone drugs has caused many women to deprive themselves of the benefits of hormone replacement therapy. One alternative to hormone drugs is phytoetrogens-natural estrogenic extracts from plant sources, that mimic the natural estrogens women produce in abundance before menopause.
The four families of phytoestrogens are the isoflavanoids, stilbenes, lignans, and coumenstans. Soy is one of the best known sources of phytoestrogens, providing the isoflavones genistein, daidzein, and glycitein. Genistein and daidzein are among the most extensively studied of the phytoestrogens.
Hairloss has been found to be far less prevalent among populations that consume large amounts of soy, as in Asia. While genistein is less potent than the body’s most abundant estrogen, estradiol, it is physiologically active at high contractions.
The second class of phytoestrogens, the stilbenes, is best represented by resveratol. Resveratol is most concentrated in grape skins, hence the much-publicized benefits of moderate red wine consumption. Resveratol is a potent antioxidant. Like the isoflavanoids in soy, resveratol may also exert some influence on estrogen receptors.
The lignans are present in large amounts in flaxseed, whole grains, vegetables, and tea. Lignans are converted to estrogenic compounds by resident bacteria in the gut. A study recently published in the Journal of Hypertension concluded that dietary lignans, even in small amounts, are likely to exert a positive effect on blood pressure, thus reducing hypertension. The final class of phytoestrogens, the coumestants, are present in legumes and soybean sprouts. Only a few of the coumestants have shown estrogenic activity.
Asians who abandon their traditional high-soy diet after moving to the US have an increased influence of hairloss compared to their counterparts still residing in Asia. Scientists have also determined that women with higher levels of phytoestrogens are less likely to develop breast cancer. Conversely, breast cancer patients have significantly lower levels of phytoestrogens than normal subjects.
Evidence also suggests that phytoestrogens do indeed improve mental capacities. Studies have shown that phytoestrogens significantly improve long and short term memory, mental flexibility, and attention.
Natural Estrogen is a dietary supplement containing standardized plant extracts that helps relieve menopausal symptoms including hairloss and produce hormone-modulating effects that are beneficial for most women over 40. Natural Estrogen contains health-promoting phytoestrogens from soy, as well as the following complementary plant extracts:
. Licorice – To facilitate estrogen synthesis
. Black cohosh – To mimic the safe estrogen “estriol”
. Dong quai – To modulate estrogen balance and progesterone synthesis
. Vitex agnus castus – To establish hormone balance and suppress excess prolactin.
Two tablets of Natural Estrogen provide:
Phytoestrogens (isoflavones from soy extract) 110 mg
Black cohosh extract, powered (Cimicifuga racemosa) 40 mg
(root and rhizome) 2.5% triterpene glycosides
Dong quai extract, powered (Anglica sinensis) 25 mg
(root) 1% ligustilide
Licorice extract, powered 25 mg
(Glycyrrhiza glabra) (root)
Vitex extract, powered (Vitex agnus-castus)(fruit) 20 mg
5% vitexicarpin
Suggested dose for hairloss prevention/treatment in women is one caplet, twice a day.