The Great Pretender

Posted by on Sep 20, 2008 in herbal medicine | 2 comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o8VVczCOkI&feature=related]

Back in June, I wrote a post about the dangers of buying herbs for menopause right off the shelves.  Consumerlabs.com is now reporting that testing shows great variation in the amount and quality of herbal menopausal products., including supplements containing black cohosh, soy isoflavones, red clover isoflavones and also, progesterone creams.

For example:

  • One supplement contained only 30% isoflavones despite a guarantee and another, only 65% of a specific type.
  • Two products failed to comply with FDA labeling that require detailed information on plant parts used as ingredients.
  • Lead contamination was found in one product.

On a more positive note, ConsumerLab found that seven soy isoflavone products met their quality standards and provided at least 50 mg to 70 mg total soy isoflavones, which is the amount research has associated with relieving hot flashes.  Additionally,

  • Two red clover isoflavone products contained the correct amount (40 mg) associated with hot flash reduction.
  • Six black cohosh products met quality standards.
  • The progesterone creams tests provided the listed amount of progesterone, which ranged from 15 to 21 mg per gm.

You can read more about the tests at the company website.

So, what’s the take-away message from this research?

As Ellen Stern mentioned during our interview a few months ago, it’s critical to look for standardized herbs, meaning that they have undergone rigorous manufacturing practice and protocols to insure quality. She also recommended that search for “standardized x extract” on the American Botanical Council website. Finally a simple rule of thumb is that the least expensive product is not always going to be the best choice.

2 Comments

  1. 9-23-2008

    I had heard that over the counter herbs varied greatly in strength. But in defence of herbs, Remefen has totally stopped my night sweats and slowed down my hot flases a good bit.
    My most agravating symptom is my mind seems to have a hard time concentrating and focusing.

  2. 9-23-2008

    I agree Cheryl. I’ve also had great success with Remifemin for night sweats. If you track back through the archives, you’ll see that I’m a great fan of standardized herbs like Remifemin.

    Cheers,

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. It’s all in the spin « Flashfree - [...] many products on the shelves do not comply with good manufacturing standards. In fact, I’ve written on these very…

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *