Menopause is a completely natural process in every woman’s life. Although it is totally normal, there are some unpleasant symptoms that many women may want to combat. Some of these include; hot flashes, mood swings and weight gain.
In this post I will briefly go into the best herbs to combat each symptom so that you can choose the herbs for your specific needs. I will then walk you through how to make your own herbal tincture for menopause!
Table of Contents
The Three Best Herbs for Hot Flashes
- Black Cohosh
- Chasteberry
- Red Clover
Black Cohosh
Black Cohosh has been used for centuries to treat menopausal symptoms and other hormonal and reproductive issues. It is most effective in treating hot flashes and night sweats.
In this study, Black cohosh was found to significantly decrease the frequency and severity of hot flashes in 80 menopausal women!
Chasteberry
Chasteberry (also known as Vitex) is a small fruit used to treat hormonal imbalance and reproductive issues. It works by stimulating the pituitary gland to produce more luteinizing hormone which then increases progesterone production.
Chasteberry is especially good at treating hot flashes and mood swings! In this study, 52 women experienced a 33% decrease in severity and frequency of their hot flashes!
Red Clover
Red clover is the cute little flower that Thumper eats in Bambi to ease his menopausal symptoms! 😉
Red Clover is very effective against multiple menopausal symptoms because it contains phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens mimic our bodies natural estrogen which declines during menopause.
In this study, a significant number of women supplementing with Red Clover experienced a 50% decrease in their hot flashes.
The Three Best Herbs For Menopausal Mood Swings
- Maca
- Ginseng
- Valerian
Maca
Maca is another herb that has been used for centuries to treat hormone imbalance, PMS and menopause symptoms.
It is very effective against mood swings and depression. It also boosts testosterone which decreases with menopause and age.
There have been many studies backing the efficacy of Maca for mood and sexual wellness in menopause!
Ginseng
Ginseng is one of the most well known medicinal herbs and for good reason! It has so many amazing benefits.
Various studies have shown its effectiveness in boosting your mood, sex drive and energy! Menopausal women who supplement with Ginseng report a sense of well being and less vaginal dryness!
Valerian
Valerian is primarily used as a powerful sedative and can increase your mood by helping you sleep! It also has been reported to bring feelings of calmness to its users and even reduce hot flashes!
In this study, 68 menopausal women found that taking Valerian was effective at treating night sweats.
Herbs for Menopausal Weight Gain
- Ashwagandha
- Fenugreek
- Gymnema Sylvestre
Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha is a wonderful adaptogenic herb that is loaded with Triethylene Glycol, a compound that promotes sleep and calms the body. Taking 120 mg of Ashwagandha a day has been shown to decrease cortisol levels (high cortisol is closely linked to weight gain and inflammation) by up to 30%!
Here is a quote from the conclusion of this incredibly in-depth study on Ashwagandha and weight loss:
The results of this study suggest that Ashwagandha root extract reduces psychological and physiological markers of stress, improves mental well-being, and reduces serum cortisol levels and food cravings and improves eating behaviors. A statistically significant reduction in body weight and body mass index were observed in patients treated with Ashwagandha root extract compared to placebo.
— Dnyanraj Choudhary, MD,1 Sauvik Bhattacharyya, MPharm, PhD,2 and Kedar Joshi, MD3
Because Ashwagandha is an adaptogenic herb, it can bring many different body systems into balance! It balances hormones, helps you sleep, reduces anxiety and helps you loose weight! I would say that its the best herb to supplement with for menopause symptoms.
Fenugreek
Fenugreek is another great weight loss herb for menopause!
In this study, subjects who supplemented with Fenugreek reported eating less food and feeling fuller for longer compared to the control group.
Fenugreek is also a testosterone booster! Testosterone gives you energy and helps your body burn fat. It also can help you build muscle which will speed up your metabolism and strengthen your bones!
Gymnema Sylvestre
Gymnema Sylvestre is another one of those miracle herbs in my opinion! If you haven’t heard of it yet, get ready to have your socks knocked off!
Gymnema Sylvestre; lowers your blood sugar, reduces your ability to taste sweet things, reduces your cravings for sweet things, increases your bodies natural insulin production, lowers inflammation and improves triglyceride and cholesterol levels…. So, it’s basically a one stop shop (along side a healthy diet) for preventing heart disease, the number one disease Americans die from today.
Gymnema Sylvestre contains a compound called gymnemic acid which blocks sweet receptors on your taste buds and intestines, which lowers your sugar absorption and your cravings for sweet things.
In these studies, supplementing with Gymnema Sylvestre drastically improved blood sugar control in people with Type 2 diabetes!
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How to Make an Herbal Tincture For Menopause
Select the Best Herbs for Your Symptoms
When selecting herbs for a tincture, I like to pick four or five herbs that I think will be the most impactful for what i’m trying to treat. At four to five herbs, your dosage will be about two dropper fulls of tincture two to three times a day which is very doable, but if you were to use nine to ten herbs, your dosage would be four dropper fulls two to three times a day which can be allot on your stomach!
If you would like to get all of these herbs into your system, I would suggest making a tincture out of half of them and taking the rest in the form of a tea.
Since I am not myself going through menopause, I will be making my tincture for a dear friend who is <3
Her main concerns are mood and weight gain. So I will be going with Ashwagandha (for mood and weight), Gymnema Sylvestre, Maca and Valerian.
Weigh Out Your Herbs
The weight of your herbs will depend on how much tincture you want to have. For me, I have a sixteen ounce amber bottle that my tincture will be living in once it’s completed so I will want to end up with sixteen ounces of tincture.
To every ounce of dried plant material by weight, you will add four ounces of alcohol (or other menstruum) by volume. For example, I will weigh out four ounces of herb and measure sixteen fluid ounces of alcohol.
For an in-depth guide on how to make a tincture and more about ratios, check out my post here!
Place Your Herbs in a Sealable Glass Jar and Cover With Alcohol (Or Other Mentruum)
Once you know the amount of herbs you want, you will need a sealable glass jar with a fresh new lid.
I recommend sterilizing your jar before putting anything into it. You can do this by boiling it for five minutes or spraying the inside of the jar with rubbing alcohol and allowing it to completely dry out.
After placing your herbs into the jar, carefully pour your measured out alcohol (or other menstruum) onto the herbs. Seal your jar and shake it up well!
(Its a good idea to label your jar with the contents and the date so that you don’t forget when you made it and what it is!)
Keep Your Jar in a Dark Place While it Brews
Now it’s a bit of a waiting game. Its best to let your tincture brew for two to three months but if you are desperate to have it sooner, 75% of medicinal properties in plants are extracted in the first week so you can start using it after about seven days!
Strain Out the Tincture
Once your tincture is finished brewing, strain out your herbs! I like to use a cheese cloth over a strainer so that I can really squeeze every last ounce of goodness from the saturated herbs.
Make sure there is no debris in your tincture, if there is, strain it some more!
Bottle Your Tincture
Once everything is strained out of your tincture, use a funnel to pour your medicine into dark glass bottles. The darkness of the bottles will help keep your tincture from degrading!
Now don’t forget my favorite part,
Label Your Tincture
I have so much fun designing tincture bottle labels. It makes them look so cute and that much more professional! Make sure to include on your label The date, what kind of menstruum you used (alcohol, vinegar or glycerine) and the herbs it contains. (feel free to use mine here! Just adjust the size to your bottle and print!)
How to Take Your Menopause Tincture
If you followed my advise of selecting four to five herbs to tincture, your dosage will be two dropper fulls of tincture two to three times a day.
My favorite way to take a tincture is in a tea! The taste of alcohol can be very harsh but when you put it in a hot tea, most of the alcohol will evaporate out and the taste will be much more mild!
Conclusion
I hope you found this post helpful and will try some of these amazing herbs for menopause! Feel free to print off the label I made and use it for your own tincture 🙂
See you soon!
Hello – For Your Menopause Tincture, can you use powders? MACA, Ashwagandha, ETC. I’ve read in other posts that it is best to use whole dried herbs.
Looking forward to your response 🙂
Thank you,
Hi Sheri!
Its fine to use powders for tinctures! I use them all the time. Sometimes I like to grind dry herbs with a mortar and pestle before adding them to a tincture to increase the surface area of the herbs.
I think a big reason a lot of people like to use whole dried herbs is because you will know for sure what you are getting. For example; if you buy chamomile flowers its pretty easy to tell what you have but if you have chamomile powder, it could have other powders added to it. This isn’t an issue though if you buy from a reputable source.
I really like Bulk Supplements and mountain rose herbs powders.
I hope this helps and let me know if you have any more questions!