by Stephanie Sulger, RN,MS
Sexual desire is an appetite, governed by multiple biological and experiential factors. Consequently, a wide variety of physical and psychological reasons can disturb its functioning.
We all know when our libidos are high however lost libido and consequent sexual dysfunction affects most women at some point and sexual dysfunction affects 50% of the male population at some time of their lives.
As we go through life our bodies produce a multitude of hormones to help us adapt to the emotional and physical stresses we place upon it. These stresses expand throughout our behaviors all the way from our food choices to our driving habits, from complex relationship issues to how much we relax or experience pleasure.
By the time we have experienced about about a third of our lives our adrenal glands have been pumping out cortisol and adrenalin and other hormones to keep up with these stresses so our bodies can continue to function. Reproductive hormones produced from DHEA always take a back seat. Mother Nature doesn't want stressed out human beings focusing on reproducing until she is sure we can handle the added work load of offspring. And so, when we are in our teens, twenties, thirties and forties we experience hormonal problems such as PMS, miscarriages, mood and emotional problems and more. These health issues are Mother Nature's way of telling us that something is off - unbalanced. It is really the body's wisdom that is talking to us when we suffer from bloating, cramps, irregular bleeding, mood swings etc. Men begin to experience less efficient or non-existant ejaculations.
And then we enter the inevitable and normal hormonal decline of menopause and perimenopause, when our body begins to withdraw from the needs of reproduction and reprodcutive hormones decline. But this menopausal and perimenopausal hormonal decline does not happen easily. Our body fights back with hormonal surges that cause hot flashes, night sweats and low libido. These hormonal problems are usual but they are not, by any means, normal! Men too suffer from mood swings. malaise and erectile dysfunction.
The Sun Is Brightest Just Before It Sets
Hot flashes, night sweats and low libido happen because our body is attempting to maintain its reproductive ability. The body was made to reproduce and it doesn't give up this right easily. Our hormonal system fights back, making itself known in the form of hot flashes, etc. Again, its the wisdom of the body at work. Men may become more preoccupied with sex and more frustrated, angry and anxious.
Hormonal Malnutrition
Basically when we experience hot flashes, night sweats and low libido, and mood changes these are signs of "hormonal malnutrition". We are suffering from the results of a lifelong experience of "taking for granted" our hormonal system. Whenever our body produced adrenalin or cortisol to deal with stress and to maintain normal functioning (whether we were aware of the stress, or not, adrenalin and cortisol were pumped into our bloodstreams) our body was borrowing from some other hormonal system and driving down our DHEA. In our case, because Mother Nature doesn't want stressed out creatures to reproduce, it borrows from the body's ability to manufacture reproductive hormones. Repeated stress causes repeated borrowing - its like borrowing from your savings account to replenish your checking acoount.
And Then We Reach Menopause
Menopause is supposed to happen. Under normal conditions, such as those conditions in non-industrialized countries, our hormones decline gradually. So gradually, in fact, that we aren't even aware that menopause is happening because skin doesn't get dry, libido doesn't diminish and certainly hot flashes and night sweats don't happen! But in our country our hormones, rather than declining slowly, plummet off as if they had suddenly come to a diving cliff and like lemmings they take their plunge. Hot flashes, night sweats, fatigue abd low libido are like a hormonal death rattle.
And then our Libido Disappears
Our hormones try to come back to maintain a healthy level - but, by this time the body has not stored enough nutrients to support our body's production of reproductive hormones. Our nutrients are being used for other more pressing duties necessary for survival. And so sexual activity drops to the bottom of the list of things necessary for our survival and we say good bye to libido. Too bad - and like hot flashes and night sweats, lost libido is totally unnecessary.
What To Do
To avoid the problems associated with menopause, perimenopause and erectile dysfunction we can eat right, sleep right, enjoy leisure time properly, adapt to stress perfectly, avoid pollution, be happy in our jobs, enjoy all relationships....probably won't happen and, besides, by the time we are having these hormonal problems, it is already kind of late in the game.
For women, eating soy helps, but it isn't going to make up for the drastic hormonal issues of menopause and perimenopause. Japanese women eat soy their whole lives - they have always supported their hormonal health this way and so when they reach menopause their hormones don't plummet, they decline slowly - that's why Japanese women, for the most part, don't have hot flashes, night sweats and lost libido. Japanese women in this country, who have not been raised eating a soy based diet, do suffer from the same hormonal problems of PMS, hot flashes, night sweats and lost libido.
The standard nutritional solutions and herbal supplements being offered to women and men for loss of libido and other menopausal and perimenopausal problems sometimes work for a while, early on - while your hormone levels are still relatively high. The culminating effects of a lifetime of "hormonal malnutrition" takes a while to fully express itself. Black cohosh, which contains a plant 200 times weaker than our own estrogen, will make up for the difference during the early phase of menopause and perimenopause. Eventually, our hormonal gap widens, and the even strongest plant estrogen known (Black cohosh) cannot fill that ever-widening gap.
So - What's The Answer To "Hormonal Malnutrition"?
First of all - a little history. When Medicine Plants™ decided to choose certain herbs for products we went to poor countries and examined what health issues they didn't have in spite of poor economic and medical conditions. Then we looked at their diets to see what they were eating and how their diets allowed them to survive. In many cases they were surviving very well - much better, in fact, than we were. This was most evident in Peru and Russia, where the women in the Andes Mountains and Siberia work hard, live at high altitudes, reproduce without difficulty, and don't even know what a hot flash is! These flourishing Peruvian and Russian communities were baffling until we began looking at their diets. The Andean women have little else to cook but Maca. And the Russian women were drinking the tea from the Rhodiola rosea plant. Not much else grows at the high altitudes where we found these women and so our research into these herbs began. The information on Maca in 1996 was scarce but there was enough evidence to show that the Maca plant was an adaptogen and that it balanced hormones. Our discovery of Rhodiola rosea came with a wealth of information. It seems the Russians had been doing work on this herb for years.
Men in their 80's in Peru frequently talk of their sexual appetites and performance. In Russia, Rhodiola rosea is still given to newlyweds as an aphrodisiac offering.
And so, after establishing that both Maca (when it is properly grown, harvested and manufactured) and Rhodiola rosea (when it is the right species and contains the proper active ingredients) both had a safe history of use and fulfilled our requirements for the number and quality of clinical studies, we began offering these herbs in this country.
Back To Hormonal Malnutrition
Because of the dense nutritional properties of both Maca and Rhodiola rosea taking them is like eating right for the first time. While nothing can make up for a lifetime of unresolved or unaddressed stress, Medicine Plants, believes that herbs, especially these pure adaptogens, go a long way towards solving the hormonal problems of hot flashes, night sweats and lost libido. The herbs Maca and Rhodiola rosea grow under extreme conditions and flourish. Our hormonal problems of hot flashes, night sweats and lost libido are certainly extreme and require these types of herbs.
For more information visit us at: www.Medicine-Plants.com
Be well always,
The Medicine Plants Health Support Team
tweet this!