Menopause, typically occurring between ages 45 and 55, marks a significant transition in a woman's life, defined by 12 consecutive months without menses. The entire process can last around 7 years for most. This period is often accompanied by various physical and emotional changes. Managing these changes, including weight fluctuations, can be challenging. Estroven is a women's health brand that sells supplements for the relief of menopausal symptoms like hot flashes and mood swings.
Understanding the Challenges of Weight Management During Menopause
Managing weight is challenging for many premenopausal and menopausal women as merely eating healthy isn’t enough to help these women address their rapidly changing bodies. During pre-menopause, the period before menopause when the ovaries begin to produce less estrogen, women may experience physical changes, including weight changes, night sweats, and hot flashes.
Estroven's Approach to Menopause Relief and Weight Management
Estroven® Menopause Relief Weight Management can help manage the symptoms and changes your body goes through during this time. Estroven offers a variety of products for different people. Estroven claims that their Complete Multi-Symptom Menopause Relief can treat all symptoms of menopause, including hot flashes, night sweats, and sleep problems. It also has additional products that target specific symptoms. These products include Stress Relief & Energy Boost, Weight Management, and Sleep Cool.
Estroven claims that this ingredient activates estrogen receptors and reduces menopausal symptoms.
Key Ingredients and Their Roles
Estroven® Menopause Relief Weight Management contains a proprietary ingredient, CQR-300®, which helps you manage your weight by addressing serotonin levels.* Research shows that serotonin, a key compound in our bodies, declines with age, especially following menopause and its associated declining estrogen levels. Serotonin is a very important compound assisting in appetite regulation. CQR-300® is the brand name for a proprietary standardized extract of Cissus quadrangularis, a plant native to West Africa, Southeast Asia and India.
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The three primary ingredients of Estroven include black cohosh, soy isoflavones, and rhapontic rhubarb extract. Many Estroven products contain soy, but the Complete Menopause Relief supplement does not. The Complete Menopause Relief treatment is vegan-friendly and gluten-free.
How Estroven Differentiates Itself
Estroven® Menopause Relief Weight Management is different from other non-menopausal weight management products because it is specifically formulated to address the effects associated with the decline of estrogen.* Managing weight is challenging for many premenopausal and menopausal women as merely eating healthy isn’t enough to help these women address their rapidly changing bodies. Estroven® Menopause Relief Weight Management is not a weight loss and/or diet product.
Examining the Science Behind Estroven's Ingredients
Soy isoflavones were studied in a meta-review published in the Nutrition journal for their effect on weight loss. A clinical trial published in the Lipids in Health and Disease journal found that this ingredient reduced obesity “regardless of diet” which is impressive.
Soy Isoflavones: A Closer Look
Soy (Glycine max) contains isoflavones, which are naturally occurring plant estrogens with chemical structures similar to the mammalian estrogens secreted from the ovaries. After menopause, the time when a woman's ovaries no longer produce estrogen, some women experience severe symptoms related to hot flashes, genital atrophy, and osteoporosis.
Safety and Efficacy of Soy Isoflavones: The OPUS Study
The OPUS Study compared placebo with daily supplementation of soy hypocotyl isoflavones (the equivalent of 80 or 120 mg aglycones), administered primarily as their β-glucoside conjugates in healthy menopausal women over a 2-y interval. The primary outcome measure revealed that 120 mg soy isoflavones reduce whole body bone loss but do not slow bone loss at common fracture sites. An investigation of mammographic density, a marker of breast cancer risk, found that 2 y of supplementation did not adversely modify breast density in this population of postmenopausal women (24).
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The study consisted of 2 periods: a screening phase and a double-blind study period of 24 mo. Informed consent was obtained, after which the subjects received a baseline screening mammogram, a physical examination that included a Papanicolau test, a stool guaiac test, clinical blood chemistry measures, and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans.
Approximately 135 women at each study site were randomly assigned within 9 of 15 time blocks so that one-third of the participants were assigned to receive 80 mg soy hypocotyl isoflavones/d, one-third to receive 120 mg soy hypocotyl isoflavones/d, and the remaining one-third to receive a placebo. All investigators, research staff, and subjects were blinded to the treatment codes.
Cissus Quadrangularis (CQR-300®) and Weight Management
Another clinical trial, this time using the same dosage as in Estroven, found that Cissus was effective for weight loss.
Complementary and Integrative Therapies (CIT) for Menopause
Studies published since 2002 estimate increased complementary and integrative therapies (CIT) use, including findings that 89.7% of the 79.3% females discontinuing MHT had used CIT for menopausal symptoms, and others estimating CIT use between 31% and 82%. Despite evidence of increased CIT use, prevalence, perceptions, and beliefs regarding CIT effectiveness in menopausal females are poorly understood.
The majority of respondents used CIT to treat menopause symptoms based on physician recommendation and research studies. Treatments that were perceived as most beneficial included exercise, mind-body therapies, diet, and spiritual practices, with exercise and mind-body therapies chosen to treat the most common symptoms of sleep disturbances, depressive mood, and anxiety. Higher education level was the main predictive variable for choosing exercise (odds ratio [OR] = 1.27, p = 0.02) and mind-body therapies (OR = 1.57, p = 0.02) to treat menopausal symptoms.
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Comparing Estroven to Other Options: Amberen
Amberen and Estroven are two brands of over-the-counter supplement products. They are for people experiencing menopause or perimenopause. Both Amberen and Estroven claim that their products relieve various symptoms associated with menopause, such as hot flashes and mood changes. They offer a variety of products for different people.
Amberen contains a blend of bioactive antioxidants or succinates, amino acids, minerals, and vitamin E. It does not contain soy, estrogen, or gluten. However, the capsules contain gelatin, so they are not suitable for people following vegan or vegetarian diets.
A 2019 study split people experiencing menopause symptoms into two groups. The researchers gave Amberen to one group and a placebo to the other. They found that Amberen relieved many menopausal symptoms compared to the placebo group.
Practical Considerations for Using Estroven
Take one capsule daily with or without food. May be taken at any time of day. Yes, Estroven® Menopause Relief Weight Management contains soy. No. No, Estroven® Menopause Relief Weight Management should be taken as directed. Please store Estroven® Menopause Relief Weight Management at room temperature. You can access your subscription in our subscription portal by requesting an account invite.
Potential Side Effects and Safety
We do not consider Estroven likely to cause side effects in healthy adults, because its active ingredients appear safe and well-studied.