Menopause Supplement
Harmony supplements for menopause?
Has anyone tried Harmony for relief of menopausal symptoms? I would like to know if it really does help.
SkepDoc has some good information, but he's also got some information that is a bit off base. The ingredients he listed are correct for that product and most of those are actually some of the most popular and effective herbs for hormonal support in women (especially Black Cohosh, Red Clover, and Soy Isoflavones), but he mis-stated his first point... the active constituent QUANTITY is not known in these (since they aren't standardized extracts). The active compounds are known... Black Cohosh has Triterpene Glycosides as an active compound, and Red Clover and Soy both have the beneficial Isoflavones.
Unfortunately, there are many doctors that are taught that herbs don't have any certain amount of (or any known) active constituents... but if that were true, then that would be like saying there is no Vitamin C in oranges. All plants have naturally occurring chemicals in them that are beneficial and are the main reason that certain ones are used medicinally... just because the quantity of that chemical isn't known doesn't mean it doesn't work.
His second point is also off a bit... There have been many studies showing the effectiveness of herbs that are used supplementally. In fact, the FDA requires that studies be done in order for supplement companies to be able to make claims about their products. I've talked to our Compliance officers a few times about this and the FDA has made surprise inspections to make sure we had the proper paperwork to show copies of those studies. Each of the herbs I mentioned above do have studies showing their effectiveness for hormonal support and/or menopause symptoms.
In any case, yes, those herbs help for menopause symptoms and hormonal balance, but St. John's Wort is more for mood than hormones and Ginseng is more for energy (both commonly needed in later life). It sounds like a pretty good supplement to me, but I would also call the company to have them prove that they use good quality methods as I've never heard of the company and I couldn't find them in a Yahoo search. As SkepDoc said, caveat emptor... make sure you know what you're getting (especially their quality) before you buy it. Good luck and I hope I helped!