ONE MORE PILL

I was back at the health food store last week for black cohosh.  It's supposed to ease hot flashes (or "power surges" as one friend calls them.)  

I started drinking soy milk a year ago, because it is rumored to do the same thing.  It worked beautifully for six months, then the "surges" returned, less often and less intense, but still annoying.

I added the black cohosh to my increasingly crowded medicine cabinet.  My medicine cabinet is so jammed with vitamins and herbal supplements, it doesn't have room for medicine.

It currently holds bottles of vitamins E, C and B-12, Centrum, calcium + D, glucosamin, Cholestoff, Airborne, echinacea, digestive enzymes, melatonin, fish oil, L-theanine (I don't even know that that is), an expired bottle of Flonase, and dental floss.  

I'm tossing the Flonase. 

For the past 5 years or so, I've looked for natural remedies for every ailment a middle-aged woman can develop.  Women my age have hormonal issues, bone issues, weight issues, sleep issues, and hair issues.   
 
I'm telling you...it's a circus out there.  Shelves and racks and baskets of pills, capsules, tablets, caplets (who knew), liquids, leaves, seeds, and even gummy supplements for adults.  

I have passed on supplements I didn't like and traded with friends things that didn't work for me, but might for them.  It's helpful to have a friend who is searching for answers too and is willing to invest in bottle after bottle of something she might not stick with. 

I've tried acai juice (surprisingly awful), tart cherry juice (too intense) and soy butter (slimy.)  

I've adopted green tea, pumpkin seeds, and flax seed oil (tolerable with a chaser of fruit juice) for the healthy things they add to the body.  

I do my research before I buy anything, and most of what I've purchased, I've used, except for the aloe vera juice, which smelled like a mix of ammonia and motor oil.  I gagged every time I drank it. 

I don't know how long I can keep this up.  Sometimes I'm so full on supplements and the amount of liquid it takes to get everything down, I don't want to eat the food I'm supposed to eat with the supplements.  

The latest items I purchased were brazil nuts and guava fruit, which add various properties to good health.   

Guavas taste like a cross between a mealy apple and an unripe pear.  Only not as good.  

Brazil nuts are the ones everybody picks around in the mixed nut bowl.  I can see why.  They're kind of strong and oily.   

I'm glad I like salmon and greens and whole grains.  From what I'm ingesting these days, those are the highlights.