9 natural strategies to relieve hot flashes

Menopause is a challenging time for any woman, but it's the months and years leading up to it (called perimenopause) when symptoms occur. We'll go over some common natural remedies for troublesome symptoms and tell you which ones work.

• This is one of the most-studied herbal options for hot flashes, yet there's still no clear answer on whether black cohosh works. Short-term trials (generally three to six months) showed it was slightly more effective than a placebo in women with mild to moderate hot flashes.
• A long-term trial, however, found no benefit after one year. If it does work for you, it may take six weeks to see results.

• It seems that soy would cool hot flashes because it contains hormone-like compounds called isoflavones that are structurally similar to estrogen. Unfortunately, most women could eat tofu until the cows come home and probably not get a lot of relief.
• Doctors and researchers who looked at 17 well-designed studies on the benefits of soy extract and red clover, an isoflavone-rich herb that's also used to fight hot flashes, found no consistent relief among women who took soy extract.

• This Chinese herb is often touted as the ideal supplement to prevent hot flashes, but studies don't support its use. One study found it had no effect on women's own production of estrogen, nor did it prevent or reduce hot flashes compared to placebos.

• Just one placebo-controlled study has looked at vitamin E as a treatment for hot flashes, and it found no significant difference between the number or severity of flashes in 105 women taking either daily vitamin E or placebos.

• An analysis of six trials of two types of red clover isoflavones found that compared with placebos, they reduced the number of hot flashes in menopausal women by less than one-half per day on average.

• This herb contains high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids and is often recommended for menopause symptoms. The one placebo-controlled trial that evaluated how well it works combined 2,000 milligrams of evening primrose with 10 milligrams of vitamin E a day.
• Very few women experienced any symptom relief at all, and many dropped out of the study, suggesting that evening primrose is ineffective,

• Despite ads you might see on the internet, these creams don't contain progesterone, although one of the ingredients can be used to synthesize the hormone in a lab (not in your body). Studies show that these products have little or no effect on menopause symptoms.

• It's good for you in so many ways, including protecting your heart and shoring up your bones, but according to recent research, it won't lessen your hot flashes.

• Avoid spicy foods and hot baths and showers.
• Wear natural fabrics that breathe and dress in layers so that you can take off some clothing when you need to.
• At night, sleep with a fan.

It may be disheartening to learn how few effective treatments there are for menopause symptoms.  There's a lot of misinformation out there. But you can use this guide to save yourself time and money and focus on the few strategies that actually work.