Chasteberry:
A Menopause Natural Remedy
This herb goes by multiple names: chasteberry, vitex, chaste berry or vitex angus-castus.
It has been used for thousands of years to treat a variety of conditions including symptoms of menopause and PMS.
As the name implies, it was used by monks in medieval Europe to suppress their libido. I'm guessing that's probably not something you're interested in doing, but here's the good news: The monks must have been experiencing a placebo effect of some kind because there is no evidence to show it affects your sex drive. Yay!
What Can It Do?
Chaste berry treats a number of menopause symptoms. Along with treating the symptoms on the list below, it can also suppress your appetite!
Where can you find it?
If you're looking for a good, natural supplement made from the chaste tree, I recommend this one.
How Does It Work?
The berry of the chaste tree is the part of the plant that is used in herbal remedies.
This herb naturally balances your hormones by raising LH (luteinizing hormone) levels in your pituitary gland.
This encourages your body to create more progesterone and less estrogen.
Women are designed to handle large levels of progesterone because progesterone levels shoot up when or if we become pregnant.
Since we are built to be fertile and have a high progesterone level, it is rare to have negative side effects from too much progesterone.
When some women use synthetic progesterone boosters, they experience negative side effects (like depression). But, chaste berry is a natural supplement and has not been shown to have these side effects.
That is good news!
However, some people may get a skin rash from using this herb, so be on the lookout for any itchy skin.
Return to the Natural Herbs for Menopause page.
Go From the Chasteberry page to the Estrogen Source Homepage.
Copyright © 2009- 2015 Estrogen Source. All Rights Reserved.
The information on this site is my opinion only.
Consult your doctor before acting on any information found here.
Click here to read our Privacy Policy and Disclaimer.
