Dear Reader,

This issue of Natural News is packed full of useful articles and tips to keep you in good health. The recipe this month is hummus which is a wonderful summer food to have with raw vegetables or warm wholemeal pitta bread. The spotlight ingredient is chickpeas, which are actually an amazing food with potential to reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes and also are excellent around the menopause as they are a rich source of phytoestrogens.

In the May issue of Natural News, I talked about the confusion surrounding black cohosh and how I felt that it is still the herb of choice around the menopause for its ability to help with hot flushes and night sweats.

Further research has shown that black cohosh could have other benefits for women. Research published this year in the International Journal of Cancer has shown that black cohosh may halve the risk of breast cancer. The researchers found that the use of black cohosh was associated with a 61% reduction in the risk of breast cancer. This was confirmed by another study this year on breast cancer cells which showed that black cohosh inhibited the growth.

It has been suggested that in fact black cohosh works like a SERM (selective oestrogen receptor modulator). SERMs function as an oestrogen promoter in organs where oestrogen is needed, such as the bones, while acting as an ‘anti-oestrogen’ in organs where unnecessary oestrogen can be dangerous (for example, the breast and womb). This would explain the beneficial effects of black cohosh on breast cancer because the herb would actually be blocking the oestrogen receptors in the breast. It also explains why there are no significant changes in hormone levels when women are taking black cohosh indicating a non-oestrogenic effect.

So at least, the research is now confirming what many cultures have known for centuries when they have used herbs as their way of preventing and treating illnesses.

Kind regards,

Marilyn Glenville PhD

Dear Reader

I hope you find this issue of Natural News full of useful tips and suggestions for getting and keeping you in good health.

Sometimes just small changes can make a huge difference. It is often said that you are what you eat but more crucially you are what you digest and absorb.

So it is important ‘what’ you eat but also just as important ‘how’ you eat and nowadays we don’t often think about ‘how’ we eat. A recent survey showed that the average meal is eaten in 14 minutes, compared to 33 minutes twenty years ago. Two decades ago people took their time chewing while talking to their family around the table. The research showed that most meals are gulped down while reading, texting or even talking on the phone. Fewer than two in ten regularly think about what they are eating.

So, make a point of sitting down and eating your food as calmly as possible. Sit down (don’t eat standing up), chew well and take your time. While you are eating, calm your mind and enjoy the food. Don’t just shovel it in.

It is also important to chew well because the first part of digestion happens in your mouth. Chewing also signals the other parts of your digestive system to get ready to receive food. So if you are not chewing well, the first part of breakdown in the mouth doesn’t happen, the digestive system does not get the signal to prepare itself and the food will drop down to the stomach in larger molecules than the stomach can really manage.

Another advantage of eating slowly is you are less likely to overeat. Once you start eating it takes 20 minutes for your brain to register that you are full. So if you eat slowly you will end up eating less food because your brain will tell you that you have had enough. If you eat quickly, you can consume a lot more food than you actually need before your brain realises.

So eat good food and take the time to enjoy it and savour every mouthful.

Kind regards

Marilyn Glenville PhD

Dear Reader

I hope you are enjoying the articles in Natural News and do send in your feedback as that way I can keep improving the content and design.

This issue of Natural News includes an article on the natural approach to the menopause and as there seems to be a lot of confusion around this subject, I wanted to clarify one particular issue. I have always used the herb black cohosh in my clinics with great success for the menopausal hot flushes and night sweats so it came as a surprise to know that in the future all black cohosh products will have to carry a warning saying that the herb may cause rare but serious liver disorders.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) report cites 14 cases of women with liver problems in the UK that were “possibly” or “probably” linked to black cohosh. When the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) reviewed all the evidence worldwide, it concluded that, in fact, there were only two “possible” (one in the UK) and two “probable” cases and that it is not clear whether black cohosh caused the problem. These four cases are such a small number when weighed up against an estimated 9 million treatment days of black cohosh used each year.

The National Institute of Health in the US believes there’s no case to answer and their website states that black cohosh has few side effects and that ‘liver damage has been reported in a few individuals using black cohosh, but millions of people have taken the herb without apparent adverse health effects. There is no scientific evidence to show that the herb causes liver damage.’

Also worryingly, researchers have found that some black cohosh products on the market contain an Asian species of black cohosh which is cheaper than the North American black cohosh. Compared with the species cultivated in North America, the Asian variety has different chemical properties and may have different effects on the body.

So I would still recommend that you use black cohosh as the herb of choice for the menopause symptoms but make sure that you buy from reputable companies so that you know you are getting the best quality herb and preferably buy organic.

Kind regards,

Marilyn Glenville PhD