If you've had one, there's no mistaking it, the sudden, intense, hot feeling on your face and upper body, perhaps preceded or accompanied by a rapid heartbeat and sweating, nausea, dizziness, anxiety, headache, weakness, or a feeling of suffocation. Some women experience an "aura," an uneasy feeling just before the hot flash, that lets them know what's coming. The flash is followed by a flush, leaving you reddened and perspiring. A chill can lead off the episode or be the finale.

Hot flashes are mostly caused by the hormonal changes of menopause, but can also be affected by lifestyle, that is what we eat or even more precise, because we are not eating the right types of foods and medications. A diminished level of estrogen has a direct effect on the hypothalamus, the part of the brain responsible for controlling your appetite, sleep cycles, sex hormones, and body temperature.

"Get rid of the heat!" message is transmitted. Your heart pumps faster, the blood vessels in your skin dilate to circulate more blood to radiate off the heat, and your sweat glands release sweat to cool you off even more. This is how your body keeps you from overheating in the summer, but when the process is triggered instead by a drop in estrogen, this response can make you very uncomfortable. Your body cools down when it shouldn't, and you are miserable, soaking wet in the middle of a board meeting or in the middle of a good night's sleep.

I can help, you don’t have to live with it, because that is the way it is. Why don’t you give us a call we would love to hear from you and see how we can help you through Clinical Nutrition.