Enjoy this thought provoking guest blog post by health writer Evlin Simon. I’m off to the store to buy tomato juice?
Is It True That Tomato Juice Can Ease Menopause?
Menopause brings multiple changes to our bodies. While it is a natural stage a woman will undergo, menopause symptoms are unpleasant. It brings hot flushes to the body and irritability. With the right nutritional intake and lifestyle change, menopause can be treated. Women have to undergo this stage in life when they grow older, but they don’t have to suffer the symptoms that come along with it.
You can treat menopause symptoms with tomatoes. Yes, this delicious treat is a very effective menopause treatment. To get the benefits, it would be best to drink its juice than to eat it whole. Drink a glass of tomato juice a day to combat menopause symptoms. According to research conducted at Tokyo Medical University, drinking 200ml of tomato juice twice every day for eight weeks can treat menopause symptoms, lower cholesterol, and manage anxiety.
How the Study Was Done
In the study, 93 women ages 40 to 60 were made to drink tomato juice. By the end of the study, their anxiety, irritability, hot flashes, and other menopausal symptoms halved. The study tracked the women’s cholesterol level, blood pressure, and heart rate. After drinking tomato juice for four weeks, the women who had triglyceride levels higher than 150mg/dL saw a significant decrease to only 70 mg/dL. Their menopausal symptoms dropped to a very low 16%.
Reasons for the Benefits
One of the major reasons why tomatoes can greatly benefit women suffering menopausal symptoms is its high content of bioactive components. One of these is 13-oxo-ODA, a fatty acid that prevents metabolic syndrome. Tomatoes also have esculeoside A, which supports the heart health. Tomatoes have a high content of lycopene, which reduces menopausal stress. The heat activation during the canning process of the tomato juice gives it plenty of antioxidants, which is very beneficial to a person’s health.
According to Los Angeles-based obstetrician and gynecologist Steven A. Rabin, MD, the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, is another substance abundant in tomato juice. It helps relieve hot flashes, reduces stress, and treats other menopausal symptoms.
If you buy tomato juice in the market, you might not see these nutritional values on the label. It would be best to buy the unsalted tomato juice, according to one of the leading authors of the study, Masakazu Terauchi Ph.D. It would also be a great idea to add tomato juice to your diet. There will be no side effects to it, and it won’t taste bad.
Tomato has its own type of Estrogen
There has been research in the past about how tomato juice can help relieve menopausal symptoms. Tomato juice has gamma-aminobutyric acid, which has the same effects as estrogen. Taking hormone supplements is one of the most common ways women treat menopausal symptoms. Tomato juice is like a hormone replacement therapy that helps bring back the lost estrogen that occurs during and after menopause.
Over-the-counter estrogen supplements may help relieve menopausal symptoms, but there may be dangers associated with it. Studies in the past suggest that taking prescription estrogen can lead to higher risk of stroke, heart disease, blood clots, and even breast cancer. Artificial hormone supplements may not be a very good idea, especially as you are growing older.
Why bother with prescription supplements, when you can choose to take in tomato juice? Since tomato juice can give you the natural estrogen hormone benefits you need, it would be ideal to choose it over supplements. Fight menopause naturally with tomato juice.
Other Tomato Benefits
Besides relieving women of menopausal symptoms, the tomato has many other benefits to your health. If you include tomatoes in your lifestyle, here are some of the advantages you can get:
- Reduces cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease
- Rich in vitamin A, vitamin K, B vitamins, vitamin C, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and phosphorous
- Treats damages caused by smoking
- Naturally enhances flavours
- Rich in phytonutrients like flavonones, flavonols, carotenoids, hydroxycinnamic acids, glycosides, and fatty acids derivatives
- Filled with phenolic compounds
- Improves digestion and prevents constipation
- Prevents kidney and gall bladder stones
- Keeps hair, skin, and bone healthy
- Strengthens immune system
- Increases fat burning capacity
- Restores biochemical balance among people suffering from diabetes
- Reduces risk for prostate cancer
- Reduces risk for breast cancer
References:
https://www.consumerhealthdigest.com/health-center/
http://theheartysoul.com/natural-menopause-treatment/
Author Bio:
Evlin Symon is an experienced health writer who has been at this for more than 5 Years. She is an expert in health, fitness, weight loss, nutition and beauty. When she is not writing she can be usually found hitting the Gym. Connect with her on Facebook and Google+ .