NATURAL ESTROGEN: A woman can increase her body’s overall estrogen by eating flaxseed and more soy-based foods, including tofu, soy milk, soybeans and soy nuts, according to `Estrogen: The Natural Way,’ by Nina Shandler (Villard, 1997, $24.95); see it for amounts and recipes using foods rich in plant estrogens.
THE MAJOR KILLER: In their book `Perimenopause: Changes in a Woman’s Health After 35′ (New Harbinger, 1997, $13.95), Drs. James E. Huston and L. Darlene Lanka note that heart disease is the leading killer of women 50 to 75 years old, claiming five times as many lives as breast cancer.
LET’S HEAR IT FOR ESTROGEN: Estrogen helps raise the blood levels of the “good” cholesterol, HDL, which counters arterial clogging. It also maintains the elasticity of blood vessels and diminishes the tendency of the blood to form clots. Estrogen also helps maintain bone density and ward off the development of osteoporosis.
