The menopause blues can really get a woman down, I know. Most of doctors tell us that the hot flashes, depression, weight gain, irritability, insomnia, memory loss, joint pain, etc. etc. etc. are caused by hormone imbalances.

But think about this: Mineral imbalances, particularly excess calcium, may be equal contributors to the woes of menopausal women.

It’s estimated that at least 40% of pre-menopausal women have low thyroid function. Based on Dr. Robert Thompson’s eight years of clinical experience with mineral imbalance, it appears that probably 90% of our population has some degree of hypothyroidism. Interestingly, many of the symptoms of low thyroid function (hypothyroidism) are the same as the menopausal symptoms I’ve already noted.

Science tells us that estrogen and progesterone, the major female hormones, lose their effectiveness when there is a zinc-copper imbalance, which frequently occurs in the vast majority of us who have excess calcium in our tissues.

In fact, hormones need minerals to do their work, so when minerals are missing, unbalanced or overly abundant, hormones will also be out of whack.

Additionally, thyroid hormones need the correct levels of potassium in the cells to work. Too much calcium depletes potassium and creates type 2 hypothyroidism or thyroid hormone resistance (accurately described for the first time in The Calcium Lie).

To make a long story short, getting a full complement of the 70-plus essential minerals will also help relieve the symptoms of low thyroid function and menopause.

The easiest way to do this is to use unrefined sea salt, which contains all of the essential minerals in exactly the right balance (except sodium) and/or to begin taking trace minerals (which have most all of the sodium removed, leaving all the other needed minerals) to replace what you have lost over a lifetime.

You’ll get the whole story in the book I’ve written with Dr. Robert Thompson, The Calcium Lie: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know Could Kill You (InTruth Press, 2008). There are excerpts and lots of info on our website, www.calciumlie.com.

Author's Bio: 

Kathleen Barnes is the author of six natural health books and editor of several others. Her passion for natural health and sustainable living has its roots in the early days of the natural health movement. Kathleen has been part of the effort to raise public awareness of natural heath as an advocate and yoga teacher for more than 30 years.

Recently, she has become a publisher of her own books and those of others based on a business model where authors are fairly and amply compensated for their work. Her business, The Book Midwife, helps prospective authors give birth to their dreams of writing and publishing readable and economically viable books.

See more of Kathleen’s work at http://www.kathleenbarnes.com.