Pining for relief

Dear Reader, If you're like most women, the "change of life" feels more like a nightmare that just won't end. The typical transition to menopause lasts roughly four years. Which makes for nearly half a decade of hot flashes, poor sleep, night sweats, and mood swings--just to name a few common complaints. But contrary to popular belief, hormone replacement isn't your only option for relief. As part of a recent clinical trial, researchers assigned 170 perimenopausal women to take either 60 mg of Pycnogenol or a placebo every day for 12 weeks. Daily supplementation with pine bark extract didn't change the subjects' hormone profiles. In fact, there was no difference in estradiol, insulin-like growth factor, or follicle stimulating hormone among either group. Even so, women taking Pycnogenol benefited from significant improvements compared with their placebo peers, across nearly every category. And its effects on improving circulation to reduce hot flashes and better sleep were the most pronounced. Obviously, there are a lot of reasons Pycnogenol is my star supplement. This particular benefit is just one of them. But I think you'll agree that it's a really good one.