How Black Cohosh Can Tame a Woman's Hot Flashes

Interesting how this news about black cohosh came out at roughly the same time an Annals of Internal Medicine study attempted to debunk its value.

Black cohosh was listed in the United States Pharmacopoeia, the nation's official drug reference book, from 1820 to 1926. But then drug manufacturers began focusing almost exclusively on synthetic molecules that, unlike herbs, could be patented and used to make big profits. So research stopped, and medicinal plants like black cohosh were dropped from use.

But studies have shown that black cohosh is nearly as effective as estrogen, and far more effective than placebo pills, at treating hot flashes, and is also useful in managing the mood swings and irritability that may accompany menopause.

But if you decide to use it please be careful as black cohosh has been found to interfere with drugs and radiation treatments used in cancer therapy.

Now, cancer treatment is an entirely different issue, of course, and one that I typically don't focus on for a variety of reasons. But needless to say, there are a large variety of naturally based treatments that one could use for cancer in which black cohosh would not be a problem.

You may also want to consider carefully prescribed bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, especially if you have had a hysterectomy.

Here are some other safe and natural ways to optimize your hormone levels without taking hormone replacement therapy:

• Start an exercise program.
• Eat the foods your body burns best according to its unique nutritional type.
• Rebalance your intake of omega-3 fats by taking a high-quality fish or krill oil daily.

Vital Votes reader Luanne, from the Philippines, points out another alternative:

"It is interesting that Dong Quai, also good for female problems; irregularity, hot flashes, PMS, to name a few, has been officially declared not effective. What was tested was capsules of the dried herb or root, but the effective elements of Dong Quai are best extracted by alcohol, in a tincture, not in water infusion or in the stomach.

How often are the herbal alternative to harmful drugs 'tested' willy-nilly with no understanding or science used to really find out if the stuff is effective?"

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