On the evening of Tuesday, May 27, Lorna Vanderhaeghe, Canada’s leading women’s natural health expert, is going to let the cat out of the bag.

“I’m going to talk about everything we should have learned about our hormones since we were 12,” she said.

Vanderhaeghe is holding a free lecture on the topic of her recent book titled Sexy Hormones, which she co-wrote with Canadian gynecologist Alvin Pettle. With a masters in health studies and a degree in biochemistry, Vanderhaeghe has been educating people on how to combine the best of mainstream medicine with scientifically-backed nutrients and diet changes to achieve optimal wellness.

“After I talk, there will be 200 women looking for help,” said Vanderhaeghe, adding that she encourages physicians to attend the lecture for that reason. “Men who love their woman should come to get a better understanding of what she may be going through.”

Vanderhaeghe indicated that those who attend will be informed of how stress can affect hormones as well as other specifics such as menopause, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, hormonal acne, ovarian cysts, low thyroid and hair loss. She will also discuss the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to estrogenic foods, how to renew lost passions with sexy foods and simple exercises, bladder incontinence and will reveal the top 10 pro-sexual nutrients that can change one’s love life and overall health. While touching on these subjects, Vanderhaeghe will also make suggestions as to how to fix persisting hormonal problems by using natural remedies and bioidentical hormones safely.

“People can find out what’s causing this hormonal mess,” she stated. “The very first early warning sign (of a hormone problem) is period problems in a woman. The warning signs are often ignored or treated with birth control, which I don’t think is a good treatment.”

Vanderhaeghe explained that in her medical opinion, birth control should only to be used as a contraceptive, as the pill contains seven times the amount of estrogen doctors prescribe to menopausal woman.

“And that’s what a low dose pill contains,” she noted. “It (the pill) has its own set of side effects. The lecture is really a consolidated synopsis of the Sexy Hormones book. It teaches women everything they should know about hormones, tests they should have done and what those tests mean and what you do about them.”

Giving lectures around the world for the past 11 years, Vanderhaeghe said she’s found that women are not getting the treatment they need at the doctor’s office and generally leave feeling completely confused as to what they can do to fix their hormone problem.

During the first 20 minutes of her lecture, she will focus on estrogen dominance, an epidemic facing today’s generation that causes abnormal cell growth. She will also discuss estrogens in the environment and how they affect men, women and babies and what can be done about it.

“I’m a solution-based person,” said Vanderhaeghe. “ It’s about what you do and all the treatments that are available. In 1960, one in 20 women developed breast cancer. Today it’s one in eight. Most women don’t even know what they can do to prevent it.”

Vanderhaeghe went on to say that she believes that a big problem today is that doctors are overwhelmed and didn’t get the proper education regarding hormone health.

She stated that 30 per cent of the population in Canada doesn’t have a regular family doctor and people are going into walk-in clinics to get the help they need.

“How can you get a care for something like a hormone problem at a walk-in clinic? Canada has the highest rates of hysterectomies in the world. It’s very scary, which is the reason why we do this education. There have been pathology reports on studies conducted on uteruses. When they looked at uteruses that have been removed, in Ontario, 80 percent were perfectly healthy, and (hysterectomies) were deemed not medically necessary. Heavy periods are caused by uterine fibroids and can be treated phenomenally well with natural remedies. My role is to teach people there are other options. The doctor’s role is to give a drug or give surgery, and in too many cases in my opinion. I talk about what women can do to prevent losing their uterus and how to protect their breasts and it’s easy. All of my solutions are easy. It’s about food, stress reduction and losing a few pounds.”

Vanderhaeghe said she always looks forward to giving a lecture, as it provides people with the chance to turn their lives around and start feeling good about themselves.

“Because I have the knowledge, I feel it is essential I let other women know about this too. Not a single woman has to suffer with a hormone problem. I get about 3,000 e-mails every day, saying things like, ‘You saved my marriage,’ ‘You saved my uterus,’ or I wish I had a known about you before had a hysterectomy.”

Vanderhaeghe will speak at the Algonquin Theatre on May 27 from 7 to 9 p.m. The event is free.

For more information, visit www.hormonehelp.com.