ConsumerLab Finds Quality Issues With Some Menopause Supplements

Menopause, often referred to as “the change of life,” is the time in a woman’s life when her period stops. Leading up to menopause, a woman’s body slowly makes less and less of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. These changes affect every woman differently. While many women do not need any special treatment for menopause, some women may have such troublesome symptoms that they need treatment. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is traditionally used to help women deal with the more difficult symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness, but the treatment is not risk free and may increase some women’s chances of blood clots, heart attack, stroke, breast cancer and gallbladder disease. Given these risks, some women decide to take herbal or other plant-based products such as soy, black cohosh, red clover, wild yam, dong quai, and valerian root to help relieve their symptoms. These ‘natural’ products may sound safe, but recent testing by ConsumerLab.com reveals that may not always be the case.
ConsumerLab tested and compared 19 menopause supplements made with black cohosh, soy isoflavones, and red clover isoflavones, as well as progesterone creams. Although many products provided ingredients that may be effective, a few contained little of their listed ingredient or were contaminated with lead. Highlights from the report include the following:
Quality Problems:One supplement provided only 30% of the isoflavones that it was “guaranteed to contain.” Another supplement provided only 65% of its claimed amount of glycitein, a specific isoflavone.Lead contamination was detected in one supplement.Two products violated FDA labeling requirements by not specifying the plant parts used as ingredients.
Soy Isoflavones: Seven products met ConsumerLab.com’s quality standards and provided the “50 mg to 70 mg” of total soy isoflavones associated by some researchers with reducing menopause-related hot flashes. Two of these supplements also provided 15 mg or more of the specific isoflavone genistein, an amount considered to be particularly important in such treatment.
Black cohosh: Six black-cohosh-containing supplements met quality standards.
Progesterone: Three creams were found to provide their listed amount of progesterone, ranging from 15 to 21 mg per gram.
Brands included in the report are Balance, Herbalife, Kevala, Life-flo, LifeWise, Natrol, Nature's Answer, Nature's Bounty, Nature Made, NOW, Nutrilite, Oöna, Puritan's Pride, Rainbow Light, Swanson, TruNature (Costco), Vitamin Shoppe, Vitamin World, and Vitanica. Of the 19 products tested, 13 were selected by ConsumerLab.com and six others were tested at the request of their manufacturers through ConsumerLab.com’s Voluntary Certification Program. Five additional products listed in the report are similar to ones that passed testing but are sold under different brand names. The report also provides information about the effectiveness, dosage, and potential side effects of each type of supplement as well as consumer tips for buying and using these them.
This report, as well as reviews of other popular types of supplements, is available at www.consumerlab.com. ConsumerLab is a leading provider of consumer information and independent evaluations of products that affect health and nutrition. The company is privately held and based in Westchester County, New York and has no ownership from, or interest in, companies that manufacture, sell, or distribute consumer products. Subscription to ConsumerLab.com is available online.