A woman who started going through the menopause aged just 41 reckons she’s beaten ‘the change’ and all its symptoms – by becoming VEGAN.
Lorraine Palmer was barely middle-aged when went through the change, and began suffering from hot flushes, night sweats and mood swings.
The former Remploy partnership manager also began suffering from irritable skin and she became depressed.
But now, just six years later, Wolverhampton local Lorraine reckons she’s never felt better, after shunning HRT and other medical treatments and dramatically changing her diet, cutting out all meat and dairy products.
Lorraine has also swapped chips for carrot sticks and adopted a mostly raw diet consisting of uncooked fruits and vegetables – which she reckons has ‘cured’ her menopause.
She said: “I want to shout from the rooftops to give other ladies a chance to fight the menopause and get healthy too.
“By changing my diet and eating raw foods, I’ve managed to make the symptoms go away.
“I was too young to be going through the change, and now that I’ve managed to stop it, I want to help others stop it too.”
Single Lorraine, who does not have any children, is now a full-time health coach.
She said: “I was always at the gym and always healthy, fit, spin class and aerobics but then one day I started feeling terrible.
“I was going from hot and cold, being forgetful and my libido was gone.
“I couldn’t shake a feeling of anxiety and felt tired all the time – and my skin was crawling like I had spiders under my arm.”
“My doctor told me it was the menopause, and offered me HRT.”
But instead of Hormone Replacement Therapy, Lorraine decided to go down the holistic route, and decided to shun any non-natural substances.
She said: “There are certain hormones you can take – bioidentical hormones from plants for example – but HRT is not specifically for you it’s just off the shelf.
“I started looking into my food and it was one of those nights where you’re on the internet late at night and I came across raw foods so thought I’d give it a go.
“I started off doing smoothies and juicing and making all my own food in 2009.
“Over a couple of months, I realised that my symptoms were going away and my life was improving – all by eating raw fruits and vegetables.”
Lorraine now teaches others about the joys of a raw food diet, bolstered with herbal supplements, in their battle to beat the menopause.
She added: “The worst thing is that I used to love having the odd JD and coke and going to TGI Fridays, but now I can’t go because I don’t drink and I can’t eat anything on their menu.”
DIET BEFORE
Breakfast – fried plantain, baked beans, bacon and sausage.
Lunch – meat pie and some salad.
Dinner – salmon and roast potatoes and dumplings.
Snacks – crisps and chocolate.
Drinks -Ting.
DIET NOW
Breakfast – ginger shot – juice of ginger and apple – half an apple and slice of fresh ginger
Mid Morning – Green juice of kale, celery and cucumber
Lunch – salad – cos lettuce, sundried tomatoes, hummus, sprouted mung beans
Dinner – smoothie or a beetroot casserole – steamed beetroot and carrots (organic)
Drinks – water throughout the day.
