Natural Remedies for Menopause
The Comprehensive Guide

What are some natural remedies for menopause?

Natural Remedy	What experts say about them
Soy	(What's this?) Soy protein powder contains phytoestrogen (plant-based estrogens) that can reduce hot flashes and other menopause symptoms. Japanese women consume a lot of soy-based foods (such as tofu and miso soup) and they have less severe symptoms of perimenopause. Soy-based products are one of the many natural remedies for menopause symptoms. Dose: Take up to 60 grams daily (in divided doses). Soy milk is an excellent source instead of taking soy protein powder. Warning: Do not take this if you suffer from allergies to soy protein.
Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa)	Many clinical trials support the benefits of using black cohosh to ease menopause symptoms such as hot flashes and anxiety. Moreover, a study done out of Germany involving 10,121 women seems to suggest that black cohosh may prevent breast cancer. Not all studies show the health benefits of black cohosh. One recent study showed that it made no difference. Click here to read the full review on one of the most popular natural remedies for menopause. Dose: Take 40 to 80 mg twice daily. Click here to see other dosage formulations. There are few side effects when taken at the recommended doses.
Chasteberry (Vitex)	Historically, chasteberry is used to treat breast pain and menstrual problems. Chasteberry is shown in clinical studies to help with premenstrual syndrome (PMS), mood swings, hot flashes and to control heavy menstruation for women in perimenopause. Dose: Take 160 to 240 mg daily of the extract. (It is standardized to 0.6% of aucubin.)
Flaxseed	Flaxseed (not the oil) contains lignans, a type of phytoestrogen that can be helpful in breast tenderness, menstrual bleeding, dry skin and dry vagina. It has the added benefit that it may reduce the risk of breast cancer and promote cardiovascular health. Dose: Take 15 to 30 grams (1 to 2 tablespoon) of ground flaxseed daily. Note: Flaxseed is a better choice than flaxseed oil as the oil does not contain the essential phytoestrogen lignans.
St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum)	St. John's wort is used in Germany and is well known to help treat anxiety and depression. Combining this herb with black cohosh significantly reduces menopause symptoms (such as depression, anxiety and insomnia). Dose: Take 300 to 500 mg up to three times daily.
Ginseng (Panax ginseng)	Ginseng (in combination with other herbs) is shown in clinical studies to help boost sex drive (libido), reduce hot flashes and insomnia. Many natural remedies for menopause supplements will contain ginseng for this reason. Dose: Take 600 to 1,200 mg daily (in divided doses) to help with menopause symptoms.
Vitamin E	Clinical studies seem to suggest that vitamin E can be helpful in reducing menopause symptoms. It helps with memory problem, menstrual pain and premenstrual syndrome (such as anxiety and depression). Dose: Take 800 IU daily for 3 month. Continue at this dose if symptoms are lessened.
DHEA	Some studies (but not all) show that the health benefits of DHEA supplements include easing hot flashes, mood swing and boosting libido (sex drive) during menopause. Dose: Take 25 to 50 mg daily. Click here to find out other formulations that have been used.
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)	Alfalfa is known to have the health benefit of lowering high cholesterol. It also contains chemicals (isoflavonoids) that seem to have estrogen-like activity. Dose: Take 60 mg of alfalfa extract (along with 120 mg of sage) daily for up to three months. Dried leaf - Take 300 to 600 mg once daily. Tincture (1:1) - Take 5 to 10 mL up to three times daily. Tea - Use 5 to 10 grams, steep and stain. Drink up to three times daily.
Hops (Humulus lupulus)	Helpful Animal studies show that hops has sedative benefit and can be helpful in treating insomnia and sleep problems. This may be useful in providing relief from insomnia, anxiety and tension. Dose: Take 250 mg two to three times daily.
Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra)	Helpful Herbalists suggest using licorice to treat a wide variety of perimenopause symptoms including hot flashes. Dose: Dose of 3.5 grams a day of the raw herb has been suggested.
Sage (Salvia officinalis)	Helpful Some herbalists suggest that sage can be used to treat mood swings, night sweats and headaches. Dose: Take 120 mg of the extract (along with 60 mg of alfalfa) daily for up to three months.
Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)  or Melatonin	These two products can be very helpful in treating symptoms of insomnia and sleep disturbances. They are often forgotten as natural remedies for menopause because they are specific in treating insomnia. If you are suffering from insomnia due to perimenopause, consider taking one of these two remedies.
Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)	Ginkgo can be helpful in memory problems associated with perimenopause symptoms.
Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa)	May not be effective Read this quick summary before taking wild yam to help treat perimenopause symptoms. Wild yam is promoted as one of the many natural remedies for menopause because manufacturers use it to make DHEA. When we take DHEA, our body can convert it to hormones such as estrogen. Our body cannot convert However, our body cannot convert the same active ingredient found in wild yam into DHEA.
Dong Quai (Angelica sinensis)	May not be effective It is one of the most popular herb used in Chinese medicine to treat health conditions in women. It has been referred to as the "female ginseng" and is one of the commonly used natural remedies for menopause. Dong quai has estrogen-like properties that can be used to treat menopause symptoms. However, several studies show that it doesn't provide relief from menopause symptoms. One double-blinded randomized studies done on 71 postmenopausal women showed that it was no better than placebo in helping with hot flashes and many other symptoms. Dose: Extract (1:1) - Take 0.5 to 2 mL three times daily. Dried root - Make a decoction with 3 to 10 grams of the sliced dried root. Drink up to three times daily.
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)	May not be effective Red clover is commonly suggested for treating menopausal symptoms such as breast tenderness, hot flashes and PMS. Because it contains phytoestrogens, experts believe it would help with menopause symptoms. However, several small studies showed that it didn't help with reducing hot flashes. Better quality research studies will need to be done to confirm red clover's benefit. Dose: Take 40 to 160 mg daily. The brand used is Promensil.

What about natural progesterone?

Summary