Three Key Supplements To Fight Hot Flushes With

Vitamin E, Folic Acid and Krill Oil: Good for Hot Flushes – and a Lot More

Vitamin E, folic acid and krill oil are three supplements that have all been shown to help ease the miseries of hot flushes ― but when you take them for menopausal symptoms, surprise! You get lots of wonderful health benefits as a bonus.

Here are a few. . .

Vitamin E: A Power Antioxidant

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin that’s a key player in organ, enzyme and brain function. It helps with vaginal dryness as well as hot flushes. But it also:

Fights free radicals:

Take, for example, cholesterol. You’ve probably been told, and wrongly so, that cholesterol is bad for you. Unfortunately we are not being given the full picture here.

Read my book The Cholesterol Puzzle and get the truth and a full understanding of cholesterol and its benefits.

Cholesterol has many, many important functions in the body and is a necessary building block of just about every system in the body. In other words, it is a major part of what keeps the human infrastructure up and running correctly. It is essential to keeping your hormones, cells and nerves healthy and functioning properly.

It’s only when free radicals (rogue molecules) oxidize cholesterol that it can become harmful. Once oxidized it can more easily slip through the endothelium (innermost layer of the arteries). Oxidation is the damage ― something like rust ― caused by free radicals. We call that oxidative stress.

As a powerhouse antioxidant, vitamin E combats oxidative stress, not only to cholesterol but to cells throughout your body. Less free radical damage means less risk of cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases.

• it improves your resistance to disease:

Vitamin E’s ability to prevent cellular damage and inflammation helps prevent cancer (lung, esophageal, colorectal, etc.) as well as heart disease, and it naturally helps slow the ageing process.

Researchers have also found vitamin E’s ability to reduce oxidative stress promotes better blood glucose control. The result is improved blood sugar balance, which, if not controlled, can lead to type 2 diabetes, a key player in cardiovascular disease.

What is more, vitamin E keeps your immune system strong and disease-resistant by combating viruses and harmful bacteria.

Further, clinical research shows that while vitamin E may not prevent Alzheimer’s disease, it slows functional decline better than a commonly prescribed Alzheimer’s drug. This effect may be due to its role in synthesizing acetylcholine, a primary neurotransmitter for memory and cognition that has been shown to be at low levels in Alzheimer’s patients.

Folic Acid: The Multi-Purpose Vitamin

A 2010 article in Gynecological Endocrinology reported that folic acid (vitamin B9) reduces the number and intensity of women’s menopausal hot flushes. It also lowers risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. Great news for women, but folic acid does much more.

Activated folic acid assists with DNA synthesis, prevention of birth defects, immune and nervous system function, and mucous membrane tissue health (digestive tract, cervix and vagina). In addition,

• it reduces homocysteine:

Homocysteine, an amino acid, is an inflammatory marker linked with hardening and thickening of blood vessels. If your levels are high, it doubles or triples your risk of heart disease and stroke.

Folic acid improves heart health by lowering homocysteine levels, thereby lessening atherosclerosis and reducing arterial wall thickening. Research shows that patients who are most successful in decreasing homocysteine levels have the greatest reduction in cardiovascular risk.

Homocysteine is also associated with Alzheimer’s disease, brain atrophy, hearing loss, osteoporosis, cervical cancer, migraines and even macular degeneration.

Krill Oil: The Super Omega-3

Canadian studies show that krill oil can reduce your number of hot flushes, the effects of stress and menopause-related depression. It also improves inflammation, joint function, energy metabolism and blood glucose levels. As if that weren’t enough,

• it protects your heart:

In multiple studies, krill oil has proved to be more effective than fish oil at lowering high triglycerides ― a primary risk factor for heart disease.

Krill EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) also quell inflammation in your blood vessels.

In addition, krill oil lowers blood pressure. Its anticoagulant effect helps to prevent atherosclerosis and blood clots, which can cause heart attacks and strokes (although people on blood thinners should use krill oil only under a doctor’s supervision).

• it nourishes your brain:

Sixty percent of your brain is fat, so the EPA and DHA long-chain fatty acids of omega-3s are critical to brain health, especially the DHA of krill oil. DHA alone makes up about 15–20 percent of your brain’s cerebral cortex.

The DHA in krill oil differs from that in ordinary fish oil in that it binds to phospholipids ― a particular form of fat that allows increased uptake of DHA into the brain. This is important because low DHA may result in memory loss, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, schizophrenia and bipolar (manic-depressive) disorder.

In recent years, researchers discovered that supplementation with krill oil in elderly people resulted in significant improvement in memory, verbal fluency and rate of learning.

In short, these three remarkable supplements ― vitamin E, folic acid and krill oil ― provide research-tested relief from menopausal symptoms, but their wide-ranging benefits give you plenty of reasons to take them at any time of life.

SOURCES:

Manning PJ, Sutherland WH, Walker RJ, Williams SM, De Jong SA, Ryalls AR, Berry EA.Effect of high-dose vitamin E on insulin resistance and associated parameters in overweight subjects. Diabetes Care. 2004 Sep;27(9):2166-71.

Barrington, R. Vitamin E and Insulin Resistance. RdBNutrition. Nov. 26, 2015.

Estrogen Metabolism Diet. YourHormones.com.

Hormone Balance ― How to restore it or maintain it. Amazing Wellness Magazine. Nov. 1, 2012.

Hot flashes reduced by folic acid. Life Extension Update. Life Extension Magazine. Dec. 17, 2010.

Jenkins, J. Information on Supplements That Help Neurotransmitter in Brain. LIVESTRONG.com. Nov. 17, 2015.

Mercola, J. A Daily 900 mg Dose of Omega-3 Fats Helped Reverse Memory Loss. Mercola.com. Feb. 6, 2012.

Mercola, J. Vitamin E May Offer Benefits for Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease. Mercola.com. Jan. 23, 2014.

Phillip, J. Folic Acid for Heart Health. Nutrition Digest. Vol. 38, No. 2.

Torda, C. and Wolff, H.G. Effect of vitamins on Acetylcholine Synthesis. The Apparently Specific Action of Vitamin E. Experimental Biology and Medicine. Vol. 58, Issue 2, 1945.

Vitamin E. MedlinePlus.gov.

Wright, Y.L. and Swartz, J.M. Secrets About Bioidentical Hormones!