Like facial moisturisers, dietary supplements are a multi-pound industry. Your local health food shop will stock pills and potions for every conceivable condition, including numerous products especially packaged for women – vitamins and minerals, Royal Jelly, ginseng, evening primrose oil. Most of the ‘alternative’ remedies have not been subjected to the rigorous testing that conventional medicines have to undergo, and some of them may cause side-effects such as headaches and stomach upsets. Many women do find them helpful, however, especially for menstrual problems, sleeplessness and lethargy, so they should not be dismissed. Many of them work on the placebo effect, that is they work because you want them to work, and if taking a dietary supplement makes your hot flushes less troublesome, then that is what is important.

If you are thinking of trying alternative remedies for menopausal problems, a qualified alternative practitioner might be the best person to visit.

Most of the menopausal symptoms discussed in this book are caused by one main thing – a fall in the level of oestrogen – and herbal remedies cannot replace oestrogen. You may have seen advertisements in newspapers and magazines for substances which call themselves ‘Herbal Hormone Replacement Therapy’, which claim to replace male and female hormones, and to provide equivalent benefits to HRT as prescribed by doctors. They don’t! Following some test-case complaints, in 1991 the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that the manufacturers concerned had failed to submit any documentation that proved the products could provide any benefit to the customer, and the ASA was particularly concerned that the advertisements might lead people to buy the product instead of visiting a doctor. In the cases concerned, the manufacturers were requested to withdraw the advertisements and not to make any further claims for their products until they were able to substantiate them completely.

So go cautiously when considering over-the-counter remedies for menopausal symptoms. Some work, some don’t take care to take only the recommended dose: if it says ‘one tablet a day’, then don’t think the remedy will be twice as effective if you take two tablets a day; it won’t, and that dose may be harmful. It is easier to take too much of a nutrient in tablet form than it is from foods, and too much of one nutrient can cause an imbalance in others, which may make your symptoms worse. Try not to become dependent on them, or to make them a substitute for a good diet and lifestyle.

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