Isoflavones - Menopause - help!

[Dogmama]

I just went to get some bodywork done and my holistic person told me about maca. It has some amazing nutritional benefits for one. If you look it up you'll see a lot of talk on its legendary effects on enhancing libido etc. But there is a another whole segment about this root discussing how it contains compounds that normalize hormones (without it being a bioidentical), and reduces symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes and sleeplessness.

I just looked it up on consumerlab.com and they didn't say anything about maca having an affect on menopausal symptoms. They did say that it purportedly is good for male sexual desire but the studies are weak and did not have a control group. But maybe it's "off label" - like so many of our other drugs..

As for herbs vs. FDA regulated drugs - I do understand that unregulated herbs can contain nasty compounds. But I don't think that the FDA is the seal of approval either. Some drugs are later recalled because certain problems are later "found." For over 10 years, I worked in a medical University setting where we received "drug money" - grants from pharmaceutical companies to test their new compounds. We loved drug money. They would give us a ton of money - lots more than we really needed for the research. After we did the work & wrote the report, we got to keep the rest of the money & use it for totally unrestricted purposes (as long as we followed basic University guidelines.) So, there was a strong desire to keep in the good graces of the pharmaceutical companies. How does that happen? Maybe if you tend to write good reports about their drugs? Just a possibility.

It all gives me a hot flash.

Back to the OP's concerns. I have tried bioidenticals and always eventually have to come off of them. Right now I'm using Black Cohosh for flashes and valarian to help sleep. I just started the cohosh, so I can't report but the valarian does help sleep. I also used to work with Andrew Weil who would tell you that if you purchase your herbs from well known companies, your chances of getting what you pay for are better. Also, I subscribe to Consumerlab.com where they actually test supplements to make sure they contain the stated ingredients and nothing else. They operate like consumer reports & are supported by subscribers on-line, not advertisers.

Sleep clothing - if you can find nightgowns made from bamboo material, they are heavenly. They don't trap heat & will absorb light perspiration. I know LLBean sometimes sells nightgowns made from bamboo.

Finally, try to NOT live in Arizona. I'm not looking forward to another summer.