One former favourite hasn’t lasted the time test (or perhaps I’ve changed?), but one book is still the very best for me. I’ll deal with the one that I found disappointing first.

The Menopause Survival Guide: Surviving the Change of Life

I liked this book in 2003 but now I find much of it annoying. It’s a good basic book in simple language written by Donna Rogers who describes herself as a survivor of menopause. If you haven’t come across the medical terminology before it’s very useful and a good book to keep on your shelf. It outlines some very sensible ways to deal with the hot flash – hot flush and the glossary is a good touch.

Rogers also includes chapters for the families of menopausal women in “Surviving the Change of Wife” (for husbands) and “Meno Moms” (for kids). These are fine, but there’s another chapter on ‘male menopause’ which I would have preferred Rogers to have left out completely.

Still the best

New Menopausal Years, The Wise Woman Way: Alternative Approaches for Women 30-90

Susun Weed considers the whole woman, not just your physical symptoms and she’s truly uplifting to read. She approaches menopause as another step in our life path, gives a whole new way to look at change, and inspires you to become a better and more fulfilled woman.

Perhaps it’s because I feel that Weed understands the pain that hits many of us when we realise we have actually reached this stage, that our fertile years have passed. I know I experienced a real grief when this simple fact hit me. I felt somehow useless.

But, as Weed explains, menopause is a new opportunity for personal growth!

I’ve mentioned Susun Weed and her alternative healing approach before, but it was a long time back. A background to Susan Weed, her philosophy and work.

The book which I totally recommend is Our Bodies, Ourselves: A New Edition for a New Era. It’s over there in the column to your right.

The ad reads : ” …… blends harmonizing herbs, key nutraceuticals and a proprietary immune supporting combination of nine different mushrooms, each prized in traditional Asian health systems for thousands of years.. “.

Naturally I sat up very late for three nights in a row reading what I could find on mushrooms. I like mushrooms at any time and, if they’re of some benefit in these decrepit years, all the better.

So here’s what I came up with. While I may not agree with the ancient Egyptians in the strong magical powers of mushrooms,  fungal health benefits are undeniable.

Mushrooms and Cancer
Four varieties of mushroom have cancer-fighting attributes.

• Maitake- cuts cholesterol levels and may protect you from cancer
• Shiitake – have been researched for their medicinal benefits, most notably their anti-tumour properties in laboratory mice
• Agaricus – has been a big hit in the past few years with its recognition as an alternative treatment support for many diseases including cancer
• Reishi – useful as a supplement during radiotherapy or chemotherapy and reduces various side effects such as bone marrow suppression and fatigue.

That’s all very heartening, but I don’t have cancer (touch wood) I have plain old-fashioned hormonal changes accompanied by fatigue, insomnia and grumpiness.

I’m going to stock up on Shiitakes. They contain high levels of protein, potassium, niacin and B vitamins, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. They also have natural antiviral and immunity-boosting properties. They can fight viruses, help with liver ailments, lower cholesterol and regulate blood pressure. That sounds like what I’m looking for.

Lentinan is an immunostimulant derived from shiitakes. Scientists say that with lentinan they can effectively treat diseases like cancer, AIDS, diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome and fibrocystic breast disease. Sounds even more like what I need.

Susun Weed says that mushrooms offer magic and mystery, good health and good cheer. Read that article, it’s a good one. It makes me want to tramp along the “muddy bank of a meandering stream, inhaling the scent of righteous rot”. I’m off to find my gumboots.

It urges us to use our local weeds instead of miracle pills and, above all, it honours the Earth.

Weed is an energetic woman. She constantly writes, trains dozens of apprentices, oversees hundreds of correspondence course students and coordinates the activities of the Wise Woman Center. Her worldwide teaching schedule encompasses herbal medicine, ethnobotany, pharmacognosy, psychology of healing, ecoherbalism, nutrition, and womens’ health.

She is a High Priestess of Dianic Wicca, a member of the Sisterhood of the Shields, and a Peace Elder.

She has received the Twentieth Century Award for Achievement, is included in Who’s Who of Intellectuals, was recognised as an Outstanding Person of the 20th Century, and nominated as International Woman of the Year.

As I said, an energetic woman

Since she began studying herbal medicine more than thirty-five years ago, Weed has garnered an international reputation for her groundbreaking lectures, teachings, and writings on health and nutrition, which frequently challenge conventional medical approaches and are unabashedly pro-woman.

For example, for more than a decade she has been an outspoken voice warning about the dangers of hormone replacement therapy. The scientific community has only recently documented HRT’s connection to breast cancer and heart attacks.

Expert herbalists and well-known women’s health physicians such as Susan Love, MD, Christiane Northrup, MD, and Rosemary Gladstar recommend her books.

For a new generation of women, she has completely rewritten, expanded, and updated her famous menopausal bible, which has sold half a million copies and has been a top-ten seller for a decade. In New Menopausal Years, Weed is passionate about natural health

More from Susun Weed

Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Years

Healing Wise, Wise Woman Herbal Series

New Menopausal Years, The Wise Woman Way

Breast Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way