Hormone replacement therapy is very effective in controlling menopause symptoms, however, there are many concerns with taking synthetic estrogens.
Menstrual irregularities begin around 38 years old and on average women will experience menopause at 51 years old.
The most common symptoms of menopause include palpitations, nervousness, anxiety, depression, insomnia, mood changes, irritability, skin dryness), physical (dizziness, headaches, breathing problems, joint/muscle pain, numbness, vaginal changes), vasomotor (hot flashes, night sweats, sexual dysfunction, bleeding problems) and sexual (decreased libido, urogenital problems) complaints along with osteoporosis.
Fenugreek is one of the oldest medicinal plants that is native to Europe and Asia. 
Fenugreek is also known to be rich in phytoestrogens.
As a result a project was recently completed evaluated fenugreek for reducing symptoms of menopause.
Here are the study details:
– Design: Double blind, randomized placebo controlled clinical trial
– A proprietary hydroethanolic extract of fenugreek seed husks (FHE) rich in protodioscin, trigonellin and 4-hydroxyiosleucine (patent pending and registered formulation as ‘FenuSMART™’) was obtained from M/S Akay Flavours & Aromatics Pvt., Ltd., Cochin, India
– 130 women were enrolled in this study (age range was 45 to 58 years old)
– Patients did not experience menses for 12 months and had their last menses within the past 3 years
– For 1 week participants took two capsules per day [(250 mg × 1) after breakfast and (250 mg × 1) after dinner]
– After 1 week participants took four capsules per day [(250 mg × 2) after breakfast and (250 mg × 2) after dinner] for another 12 weeks
– Patients were evaluated using the Green Climacteric Scale and Quality of life evaluation
Here are the main results of the study:
- Improvements on various postmenopausal discomforts and quality of life of the participants in the extract-treated group (see table below).
- 32% of the subjects in the extract group reported no hot flashes after supplementation, the others had a reduction to one to two times per day from the baseline stages of three to five times a day.
| Baseline | Fenugreek Extract | |
| Psychological | 17.94 ± 5.2 | 10.21 ± 2.76 |
| Anxiety | 1.85 ± 1.02 | 0.76 ± 0.78 |
| Depression | 1.74 ± 0.79 | 0.91 ± 0.62 |
| Physical | 9.85 ± 2.82 | 5.15 ± 1.42 |
| Vasomotor | 4.35 ± 1.54 | 2.21 ± 1.37 |
| Loss of sexual interest | 1.88 ± 1.15 | 1.53 ± 1.02 |
| Total score | 34.83 ± 6.87 | 19.64 ± 4.28 |
Take away message:
The results of this study show a significant improvement in symptoms associated with menopause. Also, this study found that fenugreek did not lead to adverse events as blood cells and blood chemistry was evaluated during the study. Further work is needed to determine the potential of fenugreek for helping control symptoms associated with menopause.
Reference: Phytotherapy Research. 2016; Voluem 30 (Issue 11): pages 1775-1784.
His research on plant medicine has led to more than 45 publications and abstracts.This research has been presented at international meetings in the USA, France, Turkey, Peru, Israel, Austria, and Italy.
Categories: Menopause, Menstrual Cycle, Plant Medicine