Wednesday Bubble: Warn me

Posted by Liz on Oct 12, 2011 in herbal medicine, menopause | 2 comments

 

This week’s Bubble is straight out of the buyer beware files. Introducing Warmi ‘Better Menopause Relief.’

Warmi, according to the manufacturer website, is “a unique vegetable and fruit extract supplement. It contains 85% organic ingredients in a vegetable capsule and is 100% Vegetarian.” Moreover, Warmi provides safe, natural, full spectrum menopause relief” meaning that in a single study of 122 women, Warmi “also enhanced hormonal balance, mood, cardiovascular and bone health, vaginal dryness and intercourse discomfort — even overall quality of life. Many benefits were noted in just 30 days.”

Evidently, Warmi delivers, all that and more.

How, you ask?

Warmi’s active ingredients are:

• Gluocosinates, plant chemicals that are found in cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, which are believed to help fight cancer and possibly, promote heart health.
• Beta-sitosterol, a substance found in plants and suggested to have properties similar to cholesterol. It is used in some European countries for benign prostatic hyperplasia (enlarged prostate) and according to the Warmi website, has been shown in laboratory animals to have some sort of weak estrogen effect that “may benefit the reproductive system.”
• Hesperidin, a flavonoid found in citrus fruits which has shown promise in laboratory animals to potentially reduce blood pressure and cholesterol and work as an anti inflammatory and produce pain killing effects. The Warmi website says that it may also ‘help bone metabolism.’ Note that this claim is based on one study done in mice, which demonstrated a decline in the loss of bone density.

So, Warmi is made up of cancer and heart protective ingredients, may alleviate pain, and…helps with menopausal symptoms? But how does it work? In the FAQ section of the product website, it says that while “The exact mechanism of Warmi is not fully understood but is believed to be associated with certain estrogen receptors.”

I’m sorry…WHAT?!

All I can think of when I think ‘Warmi’ is “warn me.” Yes, warn me that medical and scientific claims without substantiation are to be questioned, that comparisons to existing alternative strategies are difficult without well-designed research, and that unpublished, unreviewed product data are just that: unpublished, unreviewed and non-vetted.

Forewarned is forearmed.

Enough said.