• Anti-arthritis medications( including steroids)
• Diuretics and beta-blockers
Let ' s study them, item by item.
IF YOU ARE ON HORMONES
How many of you on HRT are now realizing that weight gain coincides with the period during which you have been taking these powerful drugs? I ' ll wager that the doctor who prescribed HRT for you did not warn you it might cause weight gain. Many standard hormones also increase bloodsugar imbalances, causing cravings and the inability to control intake of carbohydrate foods.
Your objective, once you learn that HRT has been inhibiting weight loss, is to find the lowest dose of HRT that keeps menopausal symptoms under control. Your doctor will have to work with you to achieve this goal. The first consideration is to optimize the balance between progesterone and estrogen. The majority of women with menopausal symptoms( even those who are not on HRT)-and certainly those on HRT-have a significant dominance of estrogen over progesterone, and estrogen is a fat-producing hormone. Also be aware that the progesterone usually prescribed( Provera) is a synthetic version, which also tends to promote obesity. Natural progesterone, which does not lead to weight gain, should be prescribed, and frequently can stand alone( without estrogen) in relieving menopausal symptoms.
Among the vitanutrients that have proven invaluable to ease the symptoms of estrogen withdrawal is the B vitamin folic acid, but it does require prescription dosages of 20 mg or more. To my knowledge, no one has ever published or performed a study on what effect folic acid has on hormone levels. However, since I was taught to use it by my mentor, Carlton Fredericks, PhD, one of the twentieth century ' s most highly regarded nutritionists, I have prescribed it for thousands of women. I found it not only to be as safe as all the other B vitamins, but to also consistently enable a significant lowering of estrogen dosage without bringing on any symptoms that indicate estrogen deficiency.
Another useful nutrient to allow reduction in HRT dosages is the mineral boron, which serves as a building block for the liver to manufacture natural estrogens. Boron, which is valuable for preventing and reversing osteoporosis, is usually recommended in the 6- to 18-mg-per-day range. You will get additional benefits by bringing the normal precursors of the sex hormones, such as DHEA and pregnenolone, to the levels considered normal for a 30-year-old woman.
Once the above nutrients and natural hormones are provided, I am usually able to reduce the HRT dosages by seventy-five percent-sometimes more, sometimes less.
ANTI-DEPRESSANT DRUGS
Another drug category that matches HRT in providing obstacles to weight loss is the antidepressants, particularly those which are in the SSRI( selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) category. Strangely enough, these drugs-such as Zoloft, Prozac, Paxil and Celexa-were originally touted as drugs that would accelerate weight loss, but a reality check soon put an end to those misleading statements. In general, these drugs have certainly been overprescribed, and many
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