Friday, November 8, 2024
Friday, November 8, 2024

Top 5 Menopause Supplements for Women Over 40

Hot flashes, night sweats, weight gain, moodiness, sleeplessness, bloating, low sex drive and ugh…vaginal dryness. Welcome to menopause (yay!).

Many women feel like their ‘glory days’ are over the moment menopause hits. Thankfully, that’s not true. 

There are several options that women can turn to for relief from the hellish symptoms.

Your Options

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) — Most menopausal symptoms result from a rapid decline in the hormone estrogen. HRT reintroduces estrogen through pills or topical applications. But here’s what doctors won’t tell you – HRT is expensive and it is not covered by many insurance plans. Studies also show1, 2 HRT increases risk of heart disease, stroke, blood clots, and breast cancer. Pharmaceutical approaches — Doctors may prescribe medications for certain symptoms such as depression, hot-flashes, restlessness, anxiety, and osteoporosis. But pharmaceuticals come with their own side-effects and risks and, as the saying goes, sometimes “the treatment is worse than the symptoms.”

Nutritional Supplements — Several all-natural supplements are available to get you looking and feeling your post 40 best. Taking the right supplement daily can support weight management, decrease hot flashes, aid sleep, improve mood, and support healthy bones — naturally. 

However, not all menopause supplements work the same. Different formulas approach symptoms differently. With so many choices, we wanted to know which approach or combination of natural ingredients works best. 

Our team independently reviewed 29 menopause relief brands using data from independent consumer testing laboratories, Labdoor and ConsumerLab, combined with our internal ratings system to determine the top 5 menopause supplements for women over 40. These brands include some of the brands mentioned below and popular brands like Amberen, Estroven, Menofit, Meno Vitamins, Estradiol, NOW, Noom, Menoquil, Leanbean, and more.

We discovered there’s only ONE thing that makes or ‘breaks’ a menopause supplement – its blend of ingredients.

Here are some popular ingredients in menopause supplements & we’ll tell you which are the ‘must-haves’ and which you should avoid.

Popular Natural Ingredients In Menopause Supplements

Probiotics

More than half of the roughly 69 trillion cells in your body are microbial3. Tiny living organisms populate your entire body but are especially prevalent in the gut, vagina, colon, and gastrointestinal tract. Microbial cells regulate and support nearly every vital function including vaginal health, weight management, mood, blood pressure (hot flashes), and bone density. 

The bad news? Hormonal imbalance during menopause can cause harmful bacteria overgrowth leading to increased frequency and intensity of hot flashes, bloating, joint pain and weight gain. 

Seeding your microbiome with high doses of healthy microorganisms restores balance and improves overall health. When you restore cell function, symptoms lessen. You look and feel better because you are literally “healthier.”

Soybeans and Soy Isoflavone

Soy has mild estrogenic effects. A systematic review of 19 clinical trials showed soy reduced the severity of hot flashes 11%-26%6. Another study found that while soy was beneficial to hot flashes, time to experience benefits ranged from several weeks to months7. Notably, reviewers of the systematic clinical trial review are affiliated with the Soy Nutrition Institute and could have vested interest6. Soy may help with hot flashes but doesn’t seem to have any effect on other menopausal symptoms like weight gain and reduced bone density.

Moringa Leaf

Known as the “Miracle Tree,” and largely unknown in the west, the moringa tree is the most nutrient-dense food on the planet. Moringa leaf contains a host of antioxidants, polyphenols, vitamins and micronutrients. Besides powerful antioxidant effects and improving cellular function, moringa leaf boosts energy and metabolism by lowering blood glucose levels8. Moringa leaf is especially effective at combating menopausal weight gain and promoting stable moods. 

Two large clinical studies confirm moringa leaf’s weight loss benefits. One 8 week study found subjects taking a combination of moringa, turmeric, and curry lost 6.4 pounds compared with the placebo group9. Another study reported weight loss of 9.9 pounds compared with the placebo group10. Moringa leaf has also shown promise in reducing hot flashes and improving sleep12.

Black Cohosh

Black Cohosh is a traditional medicine with a long history of use among Native Americans and European settlers for treating menstrual irregularities, musculoskeletal pain, and women’s reproductive issues. And although it has been widely studied for menopause relief over 70 years, no studies ever reported a conclusive mechanism of action11 One study of 351, 45-55 year old women reported black cohosh had no effect on reducing hot flashes or night sweats compared with the placebo group. In fact, after 12 months, women taking a black cohosh multibotanical formula with soy foods reported a significant increase in symptom intensity11. Simply put: Black Cohosh may not be as effective in cooling hot flashes as advertised.

Dong Quai

Known as the “Female Ginseng,” dong quai is a Chinese traditional medicine used for thousands of years for treating women’s health issues. Clinical studies are mixed with no conclusive outcomes. One study observed no statistically significant reduction in hot flashes12. Another reported a 73% decrease in hot flash symptoms at three months. Mount Sinai medical center warns women with bloating, digestive problems, or with higher risk of cancer should avoid dong quai. May cause rashes and women on blood thinners or hormone therapies should avoid dong quai.

Vitamins and Minerals

Vitamins and minerals are beneficial in maintaining health. The best source of vitamins and minerals is a healthy diet. However, it’s important to note that some of the vitamins and minerals beneficial to women over 4013 are difficult to get through dieting. These include vitamin D, omega-3, vitamin K, magnesium, vitamin B2, B6, B12, and iodine. Vitamins and minerals maintain bone density, prevent thinning hair, boost cognition, blood flow, immunity, and metabolism. Magnesium is especially effective at reducing the severity of hot flashes.

5 Important Things To Look Out For When Buying Menopause Supplements

These are the Top 5 Menopause Supplements for Women (even if you’re going through perimenopause)

Brand: Better Body Co

Why we like Provitalize

Provitalize is the only probiotic in our list that contains all 3 of the best strains for women over 40.  It’s uniquely marketed as a thermogenic probiotic with fat-excreting & metabolism-boosting properties. According to their official website, over 1,200,000 women have shed the stubborn weight with just two capsules a day. The thousands of glowing reviews on Amazon,  Trustpilot & Okendo are undeniable proof that Provitalize is worthy of our top spot.

In addition to probiotics, Provitalize contains a herbal blend with demonstrated benefits for premenopausal, menopausal, and postmenopausal women including turmeric root extract, moringa leaf extract, and curry leaf extract. Together these have been shown to combat inflammation and bloating, decrease hot flashes, joint pain, and support healthy blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

Bioperene (black pepper extract) and sunflower lecithin are shown to enhance absorption of vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial properties of herbal formulas.

PROS

CONS

Brand: Better Body Co

Want 50% faster visible weight results from Provitalize? Then the Slim Gut Bundle is for you. This holistic bundle combines the weight-management powers of Provitalize with ‘super fiber’ prebiotics in Previtalize.

The probiotics in Provitalize feed on these ‘super fibers’ to multiply faster in the gut. This means women can see faster visible results such as reduction of belly fat & cravings.

These healthy fibers include fructooligosaccharides, galactooligosaccharides, and inulin. Previtalize also aids digestion and stabilizes mood naturally.

We listed the Slim Gut Bundle 2nd only because it costs more than Provitalize alone. Other than that, we believe it’s the best-value-for-money bundle in the market right now.

PROS

CONS

Brand: Happy Mammoth

Hormone Harmony is marketed as the world’s first ‘intelligent’ hormone balancing system, but the claim is not verified by the FDA. It is also one of the few products in the market manufactured outside of the USA. 

We ranked Hormone Harmony third because although many women are satisfied with the decreased severity of hot flashes, night sweats, and overall mood stabilization, there was a reported incidence of toxicity from excessive Vitamin B6 and several reported incidents of issues with the customer service and product delivery.

Furthermore, none of the FAQs on the individual supplement pages included any information about potential allergies or side effects when using Happy Mammoth’s supplements.

PROS

CONS

Brand: GOLO

GOLO claims that their weight loss products are ideal for managing a variety of hormonal irregularities. They are composed of plant-based ingredients that work together to regulate glucose levels and insulin irregularities, although these claims are not verified by any scientific lab, research, or FDA.

We rated GOLO Release fourth because customers have given them a rating of 3.5 stars on Trustpilot (for reference, Provitalize is rated 4 stars on Trustpilot and costs $10 cheaper than GOLO). Their proprietary blend of natural ingredients include inositol (a type of sugar) and herbs with some health benefits such as Salacia Extract (Insulin Response), Gardenia Extract (Manage Blood Pressure), and Berberine Extract (Manage Cholesterol Levels). 

However, some of the ingredients fall under the category of “traditional medicine,” and rely on historical, anecdotal evidence rather than clinical studies. All of these ingredients can also be commonly found in other supplements.

PROS

CONS

5. Relizen

Brand: Bonafide

Relizen targets hot flashes specifically. We ranked it fifth because they show reasonable evidence of hot flash relief. According to their website, clinical trials showed improvements in hot flashes for some women by month 2. Similar to other herb-based supplements, consistent use of Relizen for at least 60-90 days yields the best results.

However, there is little mention of the ingredients. It seems like they are using a proprietary ingredient called the Purified Cytoplasmic Blend. While this is concerning for a health product, it seems like they have provided scientific backing from a research study.

PROS

CONS

Anita Quinn

Anita Quinn (31) is a Staff Writer for The Daily Post focusing on Beauty, Fashion, and Health. Her extensive traveling for various environmental and wildlife conservation groups has taken her to 24 countries and 37 U.S. states. The three things she packs for every trip are: a good mystery novel, a moisturizer with a high SPF, and her mother's old camera.