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I have listened to thousands of females over the past 30 plus years express the horrors of hot flashes, mood swings, irritability, and the myriad of symptoms that encompasses the passage through menopause.
The majority of women either suffer through sometimes many years of great discomfort or they take prescription hormone replacement to lessen the symptoms.
However there is a growing number of women who don’t feel safe with synthetic hormones and are searching for natural alternatives in over the counter remedies such as black cohosh, red clover, or a number of other alternative choices. I can say from experience that the natural remedies offered in the past have at best a 50% chance of improving the comfort level of menopausal symptoms. However the great news is that there is a product just released by Solgar that has the potential to finally offer a totally safe method of dramatically lessening menopausal symptoms with complete safety. The name of the ingredient is Pueraria Mirifica and is known as “Thai Kudzu”. This herb has been used in Thailand and other countries for years with great success of not only alleviating symptoms but vastly improving the health of the body in the process. Christinane Northrup M.D. states that Pueraria Mirifica has been shown to be very effective at relieving menopausal symptoms, including vaginal dryness, hot flashes, insomnia, and irritability. (page 557 Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom)
One of my favorite physicians is Dr Garry Gordon who has vast experience with Pueraria with patients, speaks of it additional benefits of binding with plastics, dioxins, bisphenyl A and other chemicals so that it renders many of these chemicals inert which prevents damage to the cells. Dr Gordon also speaks on how Pueraria slows the deposition of amyloid deposits in the brain which is linked to the causes of Alzheimer’s. Dr Gordon has a informative PDF on Pueraria by clicking on the following link. Pueraria mirifica – Nature’s Safe Alternative to Estrogen
He states that in Thailand women have been using Pueraria for 700 years and that the breast disease rate is incredibly low in the part of the country that consumed Pueraria compared to other parts of Thailand that did not use Pueraria!
Dr Sandy Schwartz recommends that the dose should be between 100 to 500 mg/day and if someone is still having a period, using it starting on the 8th day from start of menstrual cycle to the 21st day and for women without a cycle, everyday use is considered the normal dosing. (check with your health professional if being treated for any medical conditions before starting any new treatments)