A recent study has confirmed that fennel helps minimize postmenopause symptoms. This herbal medicine is rapidly growing in popularity as it has helped countless women across the globe manage their postmenopause symptoms. Women love the fact that fennel does not have any serious side effects.
About Fennel
Fennel is an herb commonly used in cooking. It has an anise flavor that is quite pleasing to the palate. The herb has long been valued for providing an array of health benefits for all sorts of issues ranging from digestion problems to premenstrual symptoms. Fennel has essential oils and phytoestrogenic properties. Similar to estrogen-like chemicals found in plants, phytoestrogens are used to successfully treat myriad menopause symptoms.
The New Study
The study referenced above confirms fennel is quite effective in managing postmenopause symptoms like anxiety, sleeplessness, hot flashes, irritability, depression, joint discomfort and vaginal dryness. The study results were recently published in The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) online journal Menopause.
Women have made use of alternative and complementary medicine for menopause symptom management across the past decade-plus. There has been a steady movement away from hormone therapy (HT) as it has its fair share of side effects. Though HT is a highly effective means of treating the majority of menopause symptoms, women are turning to herbal medicine in droves. Some are not candidates for HT while others are fearful of the side effects.
The study was conducted in Tehran, Iran. Women who live in Tehran reach menopause at a younger age (48.2 years) than women who reside in the United States (51 years). Soft capsules with 100 mg of fennel were provided to Iranian women between the ages of 45 and 60. The capsules were consumed two times per day over an 8-week period. The study was comprised of 79 women, some of whom were in a placebo group.
The intervention and placebo groups were compared at the following intervals: four, eight and 10 weeks. A major statistical difference was noted. Fennel proved to be an effective and safe means of decreasing menopause symptoms without inducing major side effects. This is one of the first clinical studies to determine if the benefits of fennel for the management of menopause symptoms had merit. Fennel was previously studied to determine if it was effective in managing premenopause symptoms. It was determined that fennel helped in managing these symptoms.
The Findings
The study determined that consuming fennel two times per day alleviated the severity of menopause symptoms. The placebo had minimum effect. It is still necessary to conduct a longer and larger randomized study yet these findings make it clear that fennel is quite effective for reducing postmenopausal symptoms.
