Home cures for ‘meno-bothers’

Good news: A few natural tricks let you sidestep bothersome menopause symptoms— including brain fog, hot flashes, dry mouth and hair loss— without reaching for pricey meds

Brain fog?

If you can’t recall where you put your keys, pretend you’re watching Serena and Venus Williams on the tennis court for 15 seconds. Sweeping your eyes left and right, like you’d follow a tennis ball, prods the two hemispheres of the brain to communicate. This offsets menopausal brain blips (caused by stress, poor sleep and hormone swings), helping you recall information with up to 90% accuracy.

Hot flashes?

Declining estrogen throws your internal thermostat off balance, causing your body to detect tiny increases in temperature (like if you’re snuggling under a cozy blanket) as too hot. Luckily, research in Advances in Therapy suggests sipping a mug of sage tea daily cuts moderate hot flashes by 79% and eliminates 100% of severe flushing—results as good as low-dose estrogen treatments. Sage’s estrogen-like compounds help balance hormonal shifts responsible for flushing.

Dry mouth?

With menopause, salivary gland production plummets, upping the risk of chronic dry mouth by 617%, say Australian scientists. What helps? Chewing strawberry-flavored gum. A study in the Dental Research Journal found that doing so significantly reduces symptoms. Researchers suspect fruity flavors trick your body into producing more saliva by making your brain think you’re about to eat a sweet treat.

Hair loss?

Stanford scientists found that dips in estrogen block the body from absorbing enough of the follicle-powering vitamin D we get from the sun, especially on fall’s overcast days. The fix: Research in the British Journal of Dermatology says a daily dose of 2,000 IU of D-3 (the “sunshine vitamin”) offsets hair loss and helps up to 91% of women with thinning strands regrow fuller, thicker hair. — Ann Green