If you’re suffering from unpleasant menopausal symptoms, there are lots of natural herbs that can help bring relief. Many contain healing properties that specifically target issues like hot flashes, mood swings, sleep troubles, and more.
Discover 10 of the top soothing herbs for menopause:
Black Cohosh Native to North America, Black Cohosh is a flowering plant within the buttercup family that grows in woodlands from as far north as Canada down to the southern states. Other names for this herb include Black Snakeroot, Rattlesnake Root, Macrotys, and Bugbane.
The underground rhizomes and roots of the Black Cohosh plant have a long history in herbal medicine among Native American groups particularly for supporting female reproductive health. Today, this herb remains commonly used to help relieve menstrual cramps, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and especially menopausal symptoms.
How Black Cohosh Helps with Menopause:
- Multiple studies have shown this herb mimics estrogen due to molecules that bind to estrogen receptors throughout the female reproductive system and brain, boosting estrogen’s effects that drop during menopause.
- It also enhances levels of the key neurotransmitter serotonin producing positive effects on mood regulation which helps buffer mood swings related to shifting estrogen levels.
- In studies on peri- and postmenopausal women, the most evidence supports the efficacy of standardized Black Cohosh extracts to significantly reduce hot flashes and night sweats.
- Typical dosage is 40-80 mg per day of a supplement standardized to 2.5 percent triterpene glycosides, taken for up to 6 months. Effects may take 4-8 weeks.
Chasteberry Also called Vitex or monk’s pepper, chasteberry is a small, European shrub that produces purple flowers and spicy pink fruits. As the name suggests, it was used historically to decrease libido, but paradoxically, today chasteberry is used to support female fertility and treat hormonal imbalances.
How Chasteberry Helps with Menopause:
- Chasteberry contains special compounds including flavonoids that act as prolactin inhibitors and bind to dopamine receptors. This stimulates the release of progesterone that drops sharply during perimenopause and menopause.
- Normalizing progesterone along with estrogen through use of this herb over time has been shown in numerous studies to effectively reduce many symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, interrupted sleep, depression and more during the transition through menopause.
- A bonus benefit – chasteberry brought down breast tenderness significantly in multiple trials due its effects modulating prolactin release which causes breast/nipple sensitivity and pain.
- The typical dose uses concentrated capsule or tablet formats providing 120-240mg of fruit/berry extracts taken each morning on an empty stomach for at least three to six months and up to a year to see best results.
Red Clover A favorite herb of honeybees found growing wild in meadows and roadsides across Europe and Asia, red clover is recognized by its pink-purple ball-shaped flower heads. Red clover has a long history of medicinal usage dating back centuries to treat respiratory issues like bronchitis and harsh coughs. Today it is most praised for its effectiveness at relieving troublesome menopausal symptoms.
How Red Clover Helps with Menopause:
- Red clover contains health-protective phytoestrogens including isoflavones that mimic estrogen in the body, which steeply declines during menopause resulting in common side effects. Multiple studies confirm regular use reduces hot flashes.
- In addition to cooling hot flashes, data supports red clover supplementation decreasing the duration and intensity of night sweats for significant numbers of women transitioning through perimenopause and post menopause.
- Research also indicates women taking daily red clover supplements experience less incidence and severity of mood swings and anxiety brought on by shifting hormone levels during the menopausal transition.
- Typical supplemental use is 80 to 160 mg of standardized red clover isoflavone extracts taken daily for minimum 12 weeks up to six months to experience optimal effects on symptom relief.
Evening Primrose Oil Evening primrose oil comes from the seed of a wildflower called the evening primrose that is common across North and South America. This vibrant yellow plant has been valued as both food and medicine for centuries, especially among Native communities on the continent. Today evening primrose oil is a popular supplement used to alleviate problematic symptoms associated with PMS and menopause.
How Evening Primrose Oil Helps with Menopause:
- The oil contains beneficial gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) which is an omega-6 essential fatty acid vital for optimum health. Levels of this essential fatty acid decrease as women age. GLA supports healthy inflammation response in the body.
- For menopausal women, clinical trials using 360-600mg daily doses demonstrated evening primrose oil reduces many issues like hot flashes, irritability, mood volatility, and associated breast pain due to hormonal fluctuations.
- The anti-inflammatory oil also has vasodilating properties so it enhances blood flow while softening vaginal tissue preventing problems from vaginal atrophy and dryness resulting from diminishing estrogen.
- Evening primrose oil additionally protects cardiovascular health, which women need after menopause since risk increases after loss of estrogen’s positive effects on heart function and cholesterol levels.
Maca Root Grown in the high mountain plateaus of Peru, maca root comes from a radish-like plant that has been cultivated for centuries as both food and herbal medicine. The harvested root contains many beneficial phytochemicals and minerals known to balance hormones and improve mood and fertility. Research now confirms efficacy helping ease troublesome menopausal woes.
How Maca Root Helps with Menopause:
- Maca is classed as an “adaptogen” alongside Asian herbs like ginseng and ashwagandha meaning it helps regulate and normalize body processes thrown off by stress – like menstrual cycles and mood disruption from hormone changes.
- As an adaptogen, studies have found maca helps stimulate hormone balancing effects from the hypothalamus and pituitary improving menopausal symptoms. It also aids adrenal gland function to buffet stress.
- Multiple studies confirm maca alleviates hot flash and night sweat severity and frequency in postmenopausal populations. Participants reported better sleep quality too.
- Researchers found improved measures of anxiety, depression and sexual function for menopausal women taking 3.5 grams daily likely due to maca’s positive effects on balancing estrogen, testosterone and neurotransmitters like serotonin
- Sage A favorite staple seasoning herb in many global cuisines, common sage also contains a wealth of medicinal compounds. Dried sage leaves and essential oils distilled from the herb have been valued healing remedies dating back to ancient Egypt and Rome. Today sage remains respected for its ability to alleviate hot flashes, night sweats and more during menopause.
How Sage Helps with Menopause:
- Clinical trials in Europe investigated effects of fresh garden sage along with concentrated sage tablet supplements in menopausal women. After 1-3 months, both formats showed significant 50-60% decreases in the severity and frequency of hot flashes and night sweats.
- The herb contains antioxidant and anti-inflammatory phenolic acids that regulate temperature centers in the brain tied to hot flash onset. Rosmarinic acid is especially key. Sage also inhibits inflammatory compounds degrading collagen/elastin that worsen vaginal atrophy.
- Recommended supplemental doses vary from 300 to 600 mg daily of dried sage leaf tablets or capsules for ideal effects. Sage extracts in essential oil form have also proven effective for hot flash relief – 2 to 5 drops massaged on skin twice daily after being properly diluted in a carrier oil.
Rhodiola rosea Rhodiola rosea is an adaptogenic herb that grows wild in colder mountainous regions of Europe and Asia where it thrives in harsh conditions. Also called golden root or arctic root, rhodiola has a long history in Scandinavian and traditional Chinese medicine as a tonic for fatigue, depression, and stress resilience.
How Rhodiola Helps with Menopause:
- Human clinical studies confirm this herb improves mood stability, cognitive function and sleep quality for perimenopausal and postmenopausal women struggling with mental fog, memory issues, anxiety and emotional swings.
- Rhodiola simultaneously provides an energy boost while also calming nerves. This makes it effective at reducing exhaustion compounded by hormone changes and sleep disruptions facing many women transitioning through menopause.
- Typical doses found beneficial are 348 to 680 mg daily of rhodiola containing 2 to 3.6% rosavins and 0.8 to 1.1% salidrosides. The herb is very safe but should be avoided in pregnancy.
Licorice Root Used for healing purposes in Traditional Chinese Medicine for over 3,000 years, licorice root contains triterpenoid saponins and flavonoids accounting for its widespread medicinal effects. Today science confirms its benefits particularly supporting women’s hormone health.
How Licorice Root Helps with Menopause:
- Licorice has a mild estrogenic effect while also increasing progesterone, helping restore balance as these two key hormones are wildly fluctuating and then steeply drop during perimenopause and menopause. This moderates both short and long term symptoms.
- Specifically for hot flashes – a study in the journal Menopause found licorice root decreased both severity and frequency of daytime hot flashes and night sweats among postmenopausal women to bring significant relief from these troublesome effects.
- Compounds also stimulate the adrenal glands and balance stress response aiding overall wellbeing. Use medicinal doses 400 to 800 mg daily for up to six months. Avoid licorice if dealing with high blood pressure or related issues.
Ashwagandha Ashwagandha is a revered rejuvenating adaptogen in India’s vast herbal healing traditions of Ayurveda. The plump red berries and leaves contain potent withanolides valued as rasayanas – youth enhancing tonics that reverse the effects of aging if taken continuously.
How Ashwagandha Helps with Menopause:
- Clinical studies published in leading complementary medicine journals confirm ashwagandha relieves anxiety and emotional volatility associated with shifting hormones during menopause thanks to its positive effects on key neurotransmitters GABA and serotonin.
- Recent trials also demonstrate efficacy lowering severity/frequency of hot flashes and improving sleep quality relative to placebo. The strong anti-stress and anti-inflammatory properties protect cardiovascular health threatened after menopause too.
- Doses around 300 to 600 mg in capsule form taken twice daily with food deliver optimum hormonal balancing and symptom reducing benefits. Effects noticed after about one to two months of regular use thanks to gradual restoring of thyroid and HPA axis function.
Hops Yes – hops as in the same species of flower cone used to flavor beer! Hops have a well documented history of therapeutic uses for everything from indigestion to pain relief in addition to their culinary role. Turns out compounds in hops also provide relief for unpleasant menopause symptoms.
How Hops Help with Menopause:
- Hop flowers are very high in phytoestrogens compounds which mimic declining estrogen. These estrogenic flavonoids and xanthohumol in particular contribute hops’ ability to reduce hot flashes, depression, and insomnia triggered during hormone transition periods like menopause.
- A daily supplement can contain ~100 to 250mg 8-prenylnaringenin which is the potent phytoestrogen also present in levels around 1mg in a pint of quality IPA beer! So drinking some craft beer provides modest benefits though hops capsules ensure reliable estrogenic activity.