Heat expands. Cold contracts. Heat rises and cold falls. The behavior of these elements act similarly in our bodies, laying foundation for a formidable challenge against the forces, especially during menopause. Hot headed and cold footed, many of us move through our lives feeling irritable, drained and overwhelmed. When the nature of an element like heat goes against the grain of comfort and model health, it seems only natural to desire a way to rectify it and “feel balanced” again.
For me, one of those solutions is through the food I eat. Because I’m curious about the symptoms and energy of menopause, I’ve done a bit of inquiry with other women. In an effort to resolve hot flashes and other niggling health issues, many of those interviewed have changed the foods they eat. Some no longer drink alcohol, some have stopped all refined flours and sugars, others have cut way down on animal protein or have become vegan.
I went raw.
Is it our best interests to change what our bodies manifest naturally? I don’t know. I just know that when I feel hot, my hands and feet swell, right along with my emotions and thoughts. When I’m cool, everything returns to it’s normal size, and I feel balanced again because I’m in my comfort zone, or health zone. And maybe this food control is actually a reasonable response to what my body is calling for, ever so loudly.
Comfort, as I’ve contested many times, is not the most ideal place from which to jump onto the responsibility trampoline bouncing upward. It’s often a place of denial and unconsciousness. And I beg to differ here, if you are calling the kettle, it is just not so with this situation. Sometimes we need to discern when comfort is an act of avoidance and when it’s an act of consciousness. I wasn’t entirely certain, so I put it to the test.
First, let’s lay some groundwork. According to many nutritionists, Ayurvedic practitioners, Five Element Theorists and anyone who monitors personal body functions, some people digest certain foods differently or more efficiently than others; certain climates are more ideal for some people where others do not thrive; our best diet contains foods grown indigenous to the area in which we live; and even more so, we are best suited for the foods of our genetic or cultural heritage.
To live or eat outside of those parameters could mean a decrease in life force and ultimately ill health. Have you ever noticed where and what suits you best?
The best locations for me are Britain, Ireland, the Pacific Northwest and the Bay Area during it’s fog season. I love the feeling of cool, breezy moisture on my skin. I feel alive and I thrive in those locations. The wind is cleansing, wild and motivating, almost enticing. When the Sun appears, it is not intense; water surrounds everything and softens the edges of my passion and enthusiasm; and the soil is rich and dark, almost always moist even in the driest times of year. Unlike the angry, edgy wind in the dry, dusty Southwest, I really like the soft and rounded curves of the elements in those misty climes.
For years, here in the Southwest, I’ve been itchy and irritated, living with the least desirable kind of weather I can imagine. I dread the coming of Spring because the high winds carry intense allergens from every known tree and plant in the kingdom. Toward season’s end, the heat magnifies and the rains haven’t arrived yet to balance out the fiery energy of heat, wind and dust.
In wetter weather I eat differently indulging in heavier, warmer foods; that doesn’t work as well for me here in the Southwest. When I first arrived, almost 15 years ago, I ate mostly local cuisine with lots of green chili. I’m not much of a drinker anymore, yet when I do take a glass of wine, it affects me differently than it did at sea level, 7,000 feet down from here.
It all tasted really good, yet eventually I started feeling bogged down, tired and overheated. I gained weight, more than ever before. My joints started to ache, my muscles lost flexibility, my mouth and throat were constantly dry and equally, my skin lost elasticity. A Naturopath soon told me the climate was too dry for me and it would be a good idea to move back to the Bay Area or up to the Northwest, otherwise I would suffer from extreme dryness and loss of lubrication in my joints and skin.
It’s all true. When I eat like I used to eat, that’s precisely what happens. Now let’s add in one more factor here. Menopause exacerbates all the aforementioned conditions: heat, dryness, joint aches and irritation, roseacea, dry eyes, mouth and throat–in fact all the mucous membranes become dryer during menopause. At least that’s how it works for me. How about you?
Even with all that dryness in the air, this can be rectified in the body with food. I was loathe to change my diet too much because I love food, all kinds of food. On the flip side, I have been a vegetarian-yoga-avid cleanser-meditation-type my whole life, so whatever transitions were needed, I was game.
Even though the geographical factors are present and constant, I still really wanted to find balance and the only aspect of my life I could control for the desired result was the food I ate. No amount of water, supplements, exercise, meditation, visualization or positive thoughts, humidifiers, lotions or facials changed the picture.
And menopause was quickly encroaching. The first few months of “real” menopause where agonizing. I did jump out of my skin and hit so many emotionally chaotic moments I thought I would expire from the fire in my head. An Ayurvedic specialist suggested I eat more cooling foods, so I did. A nutritionist suggested I eat more legume-kinds-of-protein, so I did. My Taoist teachers suggested I eat more warming foods to stimulate my kidneys, so I did. Each one of these eating plans worked for a time, just long enough to get a brief positive result and then each one slapped me in the face with heat and puffy symptoms three months later.
Finally I began to eat a 100% raw food diet. It worked and I stayed on this program for one full year. It was miraculous. I lost weight, I felt strong, I felt light and balanced while remaining grounded, I was clear headed and my emotions flowed, passing through with ease. Every aspect of this food plan worked; I experienced no allergies and the heat of late Spring was a breeze.
Then several traumatic experiences domino-ed through my life and I began traveling away from home often. Partially out of convenience and partially out of respect for those who wanted to feed me, this situation led me back to many of the cooked comfort foods I loved before. At first it was just a little fish, then it was some pasta, a sugary desert or glass of wine here and there.
Eventually I created an extra 2 inches around my middle and all my jeans are too tight around the waist. My skin is dry again and my joints are creaking, cracking and popping. Emotionally I’m mostly okay, yet I get regular flashes of heat that charge from my mid section into my head, burning my brain cells after every meal. I feel slightly stressed mentally as this fire in my head brings pain and negative thoughts which create an imbalance in my emotional state.
Last Saturday, May 1st, I started back on raw foods again. So many symptoms have already begun to dissipate: no allergies, loss of belly bloat and fat already, joints aren’t perfect, yet definitely less achy, and my energy is on the rise. I still have quite a bit of healing to do after my near year of relative indulgence, yet feel confident I’ve made the right decision. Comfort in this case eases many of the physical distractions so I can once again focus on and raise my vibration to grow my soul rather than fighting my body’s signals just to fit in, or to pretend this level of health and honor for my body was a problem.
RAAWWWW!!
If you are interested in hearing more about other women’s stories, ideas and answers to research questions, go to the blog archives for 2009; each month listed has different topic matter. If you are interested in taking your menopausal symptoms out of the physical realm and into spirit, please check out our online courses at Heart of the Mystic.