A Face In The Crowd

From the title of her new book, Could It BE Any Hotter in Here, it might sound like Rachel Gladstone Nemuth was writing about her exploits running a catering company, Sigi’s—or perhaps about her years providing background vocals for folk legend Arlo Guthrie, or David Bromberg. No, this caterer, singer and songwriter—she penned the title cut on Rosie Flores’ 2002 release Speed of Sound—wrote a book about her experiences with menopause. Like most women coming face to face with The Change, Nemuth experienced a litany of textbook symptoms: night sweats, mood swings, hot flashes, memory loss and weight gain. Her doctor advised her to begin hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and, over the next couple of years, she visited a series of gynocologists who prescribed virtually every type of HRT. Though some symptoms subsided, adverse side effects accompanied each new medication. “HRT uses synthetic hormones,” Nemuth explains. “Though hormones exist in natural form in various plants, pharmaceutical companies need to molecularly alter them so that they are able to patent them. You can’t patent natural products.” (Premarin, a popular HRT drug, is synthesized from pregnant mares’ urine.) Frustrated with her HRT experiences, she sought a holistic approach. She found some relief in chiropractic medicine and acupuncture, but her introduction to natural hormone therapy (NHT) at Green Hills Health & Wellness Pharmacy was the watershed moment in her search for relief and balance. (Several local natural medicine shops carry hormones that are naturally compounded from plants.) Through NHT and dietary adjustments, Nemuth found great relief from her symptoms without HRT’s adverse side effects. “I’m not a doctor,” Nemuth says, “but I wanted to share my experiences so that women will know that there are alternatives.” Her book, sprinkled with humorous anecdotes and healthy recipes, will be available soon at www.coulditbeanyhotter.com.

—By Jack Silverman