Natural Treatment for Menopause

Are there any natural remedies besides the medical field's insistence on relying on hormones?

Yes, there is a large contingent of women who refuse to take hormone therapy, preferring to look after their bodies in natural ways. Excellent books that will provide you with information on your alternatives are "The Herbal Menopause Book, Herbs, Nutrition and other Natural Therapies" by Amanda McQuade Crawford, "Herbal Healing for Women" by Rosemary Gladstar, both available at Richters, and Susun Weed's "Menopausal Years", The Wise Woman Way" (Ash Tree Publishing, Woodstock, New York). From these books you will learn why menopausal symptoms occur and how you can deal with them. Armed with the facts presented in these books, you are able to take better care of your body than with hormone therapy alone.
The advice includes nutrition: the benefits of a diet high in fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains, and recommendations for foods that particularly support menopausal symptoms; exercise: the need for regular daily exercise to decrease the risk of osteoporosis and heart disease; Herbs: for example Vitex agnus-castus or Dong Quai to balance hormones in cases of irregular periods, Skullcap or St. Johnswort if nervous stress in involved, Valerian or Vervain if insomnia is a problem, Black Cohosh if hot sweats are a symptom, Hawthorn berries if there is a family risk of heart disease.