Red Clover and Menopause

Menopause is characterized by lowered and weak levels of estrogen in the female body. The body's struggle to cope with these altered hormone levels is what causes most of the symptoms of menopause.

Common symptoms include hot flashes, night sweats, and loss of libido. More serious symptoms are irregular heartbeat and osteoporosis. Red clover can help women going through menopause by providing the body with estrogen-like chemicals to replace the estrogen it has lost.

Red clovers� success in easing some symptoms of menopause lies in its isoflavones. Red clovers' isoflavones have long been used to relieve menopausal symptoms, although the science behind this is not fully understood.

Red clovers' estrogen-like properties are what make it so effective in treating menopause symptoms. Lignan and phytoestrogens, red clovers' isoflavone compounds, attach to estrogen-like receptors to stimulate a response in the body that is similar to estrogen. They do not travel along the same pathways that estrogen travels on, but their pathways are remarkably similar.

Red clovers' isoflavones block, tune, and modulate the body so that a hormonal balance is achieved. The complications involved in this process are why scientists do not fully understand it.

Despite this lack of understanding, red clover�s benefits for menopausal women are obvious. These are explained in more detail below.

Red Clover For Menopausal Women

Hot Flashes: Red clovers' isoflavones have long been used to ease hot flashes, a common menopause symptom. Hot flashes are the result of wildly fluctuating levels of estrogen in the body and are characterized by a feeling of intense heat, accompanied by sweating, and a rapid heartbeat.

The face often becomes visibly reddened during this process, which is where the term hot flash originates. Hot flashes are more than just a bothersome symptom: some women can pass out from them if the effects are strong enough.

Night Sweats: Menopausal women often experience night sweats, which are what hot flashes are called when they happen at night. Estrogen production is at its lowest during the evening, which is why night sweats are so common. Red clovers' isoflavones can be used to ease these.

Cardiovascular Health: Taking red clover can improve the cardiovascular health of menopausal women. Red clovers' estrogen-like properties also lead to stronger arteries, which allow the heart to pump blood with less strain.

Red clover also makes artery walls more flexible, which eases the strain on the heart and makes it harder for blood clots to form.

Bone Density-Loss: Red clovers' estrogen-like properties make it successful in slowing done bone-density and bone-mineral loss in pre and post-menopausal women.

Conclusions about Red Clover

Red clover is great for treating some menopause symptoms, but has recently been criticized for adding artificial hormones to the body. In so doing, red clover can trigger serious conditions such as breast cancer.

Other alternative treatments are just as effective as red clover, but without the side effects. Non-estrogenic herbs, for example, are a great option for treating menopause symptoms. Read more in the following article.