Herbs for Menopause

If you are one of the (few) lucky women, you may slide right through menopause with nary a symptom. However, if you are in the other camp and are suffering from hot flashes, night sweats, sore breasts and irritability, some herbs may diminish the symptoms.

LH and FSH Gone Wild

• According to Mothernature.com (see "References" below), the culprits that wreak all the havoc during menopause include luteinizing hormone (LH), which is a pituitary hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). They get over-agitated as they attempt to compensate for diminishing levels of estrogen and progesterone. FSH levels, for example, can reach 20 times their original levels during menopause. In an effort to get things back on track, many women take herbs, including fenugreek, hops, don quai, licorice, black cohosh, vitex and ginseng. Mothernature.com states that these have proved beneficial in relieving hot flashes severity and duration. After taking a black cohosh preparation (e.g., Cimicifuga-Pentakran) for two months, women taking the preparation reported that they had fewer hot flashes and their luteneizing hormone levels were lower, according to Mothernature.com.

  Licorice affects both estrogen and progesterone levels and has estrogenic properties. Black cohosh has been used since at least colonial times to treat menstrual cramps and menopause, according to Holisticonline.com (see "References"). The body uses black cohosh to produce hormones in the specific amount that the body needs. Don quai, a Chinese herb, reportedly aids in estrogen replacement. It contains vitamin E and iron and has been dubbed the "female tonic."

Boosting Estrogen

• British doctor Gisela Wilcox, M.D., and her team of associates conducted a study on women who were given flaxseed, soy flour and red clover sprouts daily for two weeks. They reported that the women experienced a rise in estrogen levels. The estrogen levels stayed steady as long as the women continued to eat the special diet; once they stopped, estrogen levels dropped back to the levels seen prior to eating the enriched diet.

  Other herbs that have proved beneficial in dealing with hormonal imbalance during menopause, according to Mothernature.com, include alfalfa seeds and sprouts, which produce a similar outcome to the one described by Wilcox and her team.

Other Options

• Menopausal women have found relief from menopause symptoms by taking ginseng, which increases cognitive function (good-bye foggy brain), energy and reduces the frequency of hot flashes. Hops has estrogenic properties that calm women and that helps re-establish pre-menopausal levels of estrogen.

Achieving Balance

• Holisticonline.com notes that other herbs can help quell hormonal rioting, including Chasteberry, ginkgo biloba, blessed thistle, burdock root, damiana, fo-ti, suma, squaw vine, anise seed, red raspberry leaf, sarsaparilla and false unicorn root.

  Foods that have a positive effect on menopausal women and their hormone balance include dill, thyme and onions, which reduce estrogen production--this is good if you have too much estrogen (estrogen dominance). Or try anise seed tea, sage and garlic tea, and alfalfa, which promote estrogen production.

Calming Your System

• Eating some type of seaweed or kelp each day will reportedly reduce menopausal symptoms. And oats will help nourish and balance your hormonal system.