Today's topic
Today on A.Vogel Talks Menopause, I take a look at helpful herbs and other supplements that may be beneficial for you during menopause.
I often mention how effective and supportive vitamins and minerals are during menopause, how they can give you a nice nutritional boost which, in turn, can help to reduce menopause symptoms. But also, there's a lovely range of herbs and other supplements that can be beneficial as well.
So, today I thought I would take a closer look at some of the ones I recommend most, explaining how they can help and ways to take them.
1. Soya isoflavones
Isoflavones are plant-based compounds that are known to mimic oestrogen in your body. And a lot of women find, going through menopause, that taking some kind of isoflavone can help with their menopause symptoms. These are known to very gently balance out oestrogen and sometimes, even raise it very slightly. And obviously, that's going to have a beneficial effect on the symptoms that you are experiencing.
It can be very helpful in peri-menopause, especially if your oestrogen is starting to fluctuate a lot just before a period. And these can also be taken right through menopause and post-menopause as well.
I tend to recommend soya isoflavones because there's a lot of research on it and it does tend to be very effective. We have a soya isoflavone product called Menopause Support, which we have combined with magnesium. We know that magnesium can be helpful during menopause as it can help support your nervous system, and also helping to reduce tiredness and fatigue.
2. Black cohosh
However, some people can't take soya for various reasons, maybe they're on certain medication or maybe they're allergic to it. And in which case, I would recommend another herb called black cohosh.
This contains isoflavones as well and can be really helpful. With black cohosh, if you can get it in liquid form, that would be much better because it tends to work quicker and the liquid ones are that little bit purer as well.
3. Sage
Sage is a herb that is well-known for helping to ease hot flushes and night sweats. Studies have found that it contains compounds that help to stabilise your body's heat thermostat so it can help to reduce hot flushes and night sweats.
There are also studies showing that sage can have short-term benefits on your mood, so it's giving you that little bit of extra benefit as well.
We have our Menoforce Sage tablets, which are licensed for the relief of hot flushes and night sweats.
This is a one-a-day tablet so it's nice and easy to remember to take it. I usually recommend taking it with breakfast if you're getting daytime symptoms. If you're getting night-time symptoms or you're getting night-time and daytime symptoms, I usually recommend taking it with your evening meal.
A.Vogel Menoforce Sage Tablets for Menopausal Hot Flushes and Night Sweats, One-a-Day, 30 tablets
£15.99 (30 tablets) In Stock
For those of you that are not keen on tablets, you can also take sage as a liquid, which can be taken two or three times a day. Some women do find that little and often will work better for them.
4. Maca
Maca is a herb that does quite a number of different things. It's called an adaptogen. What that means is that it's working on your nervous system. It's helping to calm your adrenals.
Your adrenals are glands above the kidneys. They run and control your nervous system. Unfortunately, during menopause, your adrenals can get extra stressed and that, in turn, can heighten anxiety, stress, mood swings, etc. So taking something that's going to strengthen the adrenals and calm them down can be beneficial for reducing a lot of the emotional menopause symptoms.
Maca too can be helpful for fatigue and sleep as well. Again, if you can get it in a liquid form, it tends to work quicker. If you can't get it as a liquid, then I would go with capsules.
Don't take too high a dose with the maca because some people find that it revs them up a little bit too much and that's not necessarily a good thing.
You can get maca as a powder but the powders tend to be just supplements that you would add to a smoothie, so if you're needing it for specific menopause symptoms, then it's much better to go with the liquid or the capsule.
5. Sea buckthorn oil
This, again, is another one of my favourite supplements for menopause. This is for dryness anywhere in menopause. It can help with vaginal dryness. A lot of bladder irritations happen because the bladder tissue starts to dry out a little bit.
It can also be really helpful for dry mouth, dry eyes and dry skin. So you're getting all these benefits just with one supplement.
6. Calming herbs
We know that emotional issues are huge in menopause so you have things like anxiety, stress, low mood, mood swings, anger, irritability, just being fed up with everything, so there's a lovely range of herbs that can be helpful.
So, these would be ones such as Passionflower (also known as Passiflora), Valerian and Avena sativa. Sometimes, even herbs like ashwagandha can be nice. So, these are all calming herbs. Again, if you can get them in liquid form, even better because they will work quicker.
So, I hope you found this helpful. There are lots more great supplements and herbs out there for menopause, so if any of you have tried something new, if you found something that works well for you, then please do share it with us.
Key points to take away from this blog:
- Isoflavones are plant-based compounds that mimic oestrogen in your body, you can find them in either soya isoflavones products or Black cohosh.
- The herb sage can help relieve excessive sweating associated with menopausal hot flushes, including night sweats.
- Maca and calming herbs such as Valerian, Avena sativa and Passionflower can help calm the emotional symptoms of menopause.
- Sea Buckthorn Oil is a supplement that can help ease dryness during menopause including vaginal dryness, dry mouth, dry eyes and dry skin.
Until next week, take care.
