Dr. Nicole Sundene, NMD
Menopause symptoms can be truly miserable between hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, constipation, dry skin, and mood disturbances such as anxiety, depression, trouble concentrating, poor memory, ADHD, and generalized brain fog.
Many women experience hormonal anger from constantly feeling too hot.
Ladies, let food be thy medicine with this easy Menopause Milkshake recipe designed to help calm hot flashes and night sweats. This recipe is packed full of herbal medicines to help women stay cool.
Whether the heat is bothering us in Arizona, or we are having a hot flashes or night sweats the cooling properties of spearmint, red clover, and nettles combine nicely with blueberries and pears to help cool women down. In Herbal Medicine, every food has a "temperature" and it is either heating, neutral or cooling. We need to avoid the hot foods, and heating herbs if too hot as I explain in my blog about how I gave myself a hot flash from mixing them all together!
Nettles were found to help menopausal hot flashes after 8 weeks at 450mg daily. Spearmint is cooling and refreshing.
Red clover is a phytoestrogen herb that also works for anxiety as a mild sedative to help women sleep better. I also love Red Clover for gentle ongoing detox support as a clogged liver often causes imbalanced hormones.
By combining multiple cooling foods and phytoestrogens this is how many of my menopause patients manage their menopause symptoms with Bioidentical Hormones!
Menopause Milkshake Recipe:
1-2 cups of chilled “Hot Flash Iced Tea”= Spearmint, Red Clover, and Nettles Herbal Tea
1 cup frozen Blueberries
½ frozen Pear
½ cup of Kefir
1-3 Tbl freshly ground Flaxseed
1-2 Packets of Stevia to taste (optional)
1 Scoop of Protein Powder or Collagen
Mint to Garnish
Instructions:
Add chilled herbal tea, fruit, flaxseeds, kefir, protein, and stevia to blender. Mix well and garnish with mint. Drink 1-3 shakes per day for hot flashes and night sweats.
To make your “Hot Flash Iced Tea,” combine 1 tsp each of nettles, red clover, and spearmint per 8 oz of water.
Tea should be made fresh every 1-2 days and discarded after 48 hours in the refrigerator.
To make 2 nights' worth of iced tea at once, you will need 3 cups of boiling water and 3 Tbl of each:
1) Nettles 2) Red Clover 3) Spearmint
Cover herbs with boiling water, stir, and let steep covered to preserve the mint essential oils for 15-45 minutes. Letting your tea steep a little longer helps absorb the minerals and phytoestrogens that mimic estrogen into your tea. Chill your tea before using it in my Menopause Milkshake.
Women should drink their menopause shake 1 hour before bedtime for optimal, cool sleep.
Dr. Nicole Sundene
(480) 837-0900
Dr. Sundene is a Naturopathic Doctor in Scottsdale, Arizona, and is a Female Hormone Expert in Women's Health and Bioidentical Hormones. She specializes in Holistic Women's Health for Menopause, Thyroid, Hashimotos, PMS, Perimenopause, Autoimmune, Postpartum, Chronic Fatigue, Depression, Anxiety, Food Allergies, Digestion, Dermatology, Acne, Psoriasis, Eczema, and Adrenal Hormonal Conditions. In 1999 she began working for a Hormone Doctor prior to starting Naturopathic Medical School. With over 23 years of experience in both Prescription and Natural women's health and hormones, she presents to women the best-integrated health solutions for their Chronic Disease.
She has been an Herbalist for over 28 years and enjoys teaching women how to use herbs to balance their hormones, nutrition and optimize their health. Dr. Sundene relies on blood testing for her hormone metrics. The hormone testing is covered per the patient's insurance plan (not Medicaid) and conducted at certain points in the woman's menstrual cycle. To learn more about Hormone Testing for Women Visit: Bioidentical Hormones. Follow Dr. Sundene on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for more tips on Women's Health, Female Hormones, and Naturopathy!
