If you are a woman over 50, chances are you have experienced or are experiencing the effects of menopause. Symptoms such as hot flashes, irritability, night sweats, sleep problems, and weight gain are a common occurrence during this normal life transition. Menopause begins after a full year of no menstruation. The early stages of menopause, known as perimenopause, is when many of the above listed symptoms occur.

Many women choose to manage menopause symptoms in a natural way (or in conjunction with doctor prescribed hormone medications). Other women find prescription drugs to be too expensive, or experience more adverse symptoms because of them. So allow us to present to you some natural aids that can help to manage menopause symptoms:

1. Eat a balanced diet
If you want to reduce symptoms of menopause, the first thing you should look at is the food that you’re eating. For instance, adding more essential oils and minerals to your diet may help to decrease caloric intake while adding vital nutrients. Also, eat more densely nutritious foods like leafy green vegetables (i.e., kale, spinach) and high-fiber foods (i.e., oats).

2. Stay away from foods that make symptoms worse
As an accompaniment to eating better food, you should also abstain from eating foods that are unhealthy. Of course that means you should stay away from those foods made with processed sugars and food with lots of preservatives. Also stay away from conventional farm raised meat and try to eat free range hormone free meat.

3. Use omega 3 oils
Omega-3 essential fats can be found in foods such as flaxseed and extra virgin olive oil, as well as multiple types of fatty fish (i.e., salmon, anchovies, tuna, and mackerel). Eating foods rich in omega-3s will help trigger hormone production naturally, which aids in reproductive health.

4. Take black cohosh
Taking 80 mg of black cohosh twice a day will help you with your night sweats and hot flashes. Black cohosh is also reputed to help with sleep problems and hormonal imbalances.

5. Use maca root
You can take 1000 to 2000 mg of maca root to help you mitigate the effects of aging on the body. Maca root helps to reduce cortisol levels (stress hormone) in your system. This helps reduce overall aging and stress on your skin and hair. It also helps lower stress levels and increase libido.

6. Reduce and manage stress
This one is important for your health in general, but it will especially help with menopause. Make sure you get plenty of sleep at night and be sure not to engage in activities that you know will upset you or keep you up at night (i.e., blue screens from electronic devices, scary movies or TV before bedtime, etc.). Don’t be afraid to screen out calls so you can get a good night’s sleep.

7. Exercise regularly
This is also something that is important for overall health and it is a good idea for you to do it regardless of whether or not you are in menopause or not. Make sure to fit 10 to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise per day. You should also do some light weight training and high intensity interval exercises.