If you are a woman in your 40’s or 50’s and experiencing hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, low libido, and/or debilitating changes in your menstrual cycle…suffer no more! These changes are due to a drop in progesterone and estrogen, and this hormonal shift can impact your quality of life. Below are the 5 best herbs to improve your quality of life and help with this hormonal transition:

1. Black Cohosh– reduces hot flashes and night sweats; improves mood.
2. Maca– reduces hot flashes and night sweats; improves energy; boosts libido.
3. Chaste tree berry (aka Vitex)- support for heavy periods, insomnia, and anxiety. Helps your brain increase natural progesterone production. For some women, using a progesterone cream might be needed, but chaste tree berry is a great first-line approach.
4. Rhodiola– reduces hot flashes, improves energy, and uplifts the mood. This is particularly helpful when combined with Black cohosh.
5. Ashwagandha- improves memory and cognition and helps the body adapt to stress. Hot flashes are worse when a woman is in sympathetic dominance (ie. “fight or flight”). Ashwagandha calms the nervous system and keeps your body in a parasympathetic, or relaxed, state.

Nature provides us with so many safe and effective remedies. When herbs simply don’t cut it, however, I often then do hormone testing (to assess cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, and DHEA) to give us more insight regarding the individual hormone imbalance.

And remember, food is medicine! Cruciferous vegetables, flaxseeds, deeply pigmented/antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, and green tea are hormone-balancing foods. Eliminating spicy food, sugar, and wine can also help!

Editor’s Note: The information in this article is intended for your educational use only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health practitioners with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition and before undertaking any diet, supplement, fitness, or other health program.