Why we chose Black Cohosh as one of the four botanicals in VIVACA® to help deal with menopausal symptoms.

Black Cohosh’s botanical names are Actaea racemosa and Cimicifuga racemosa. This plant is a member of the buttercup family and you may have seen it in grandmas garden years back. It’s a perennial plant that is native to North America. Other common names you may remember it as are black snakeroot, bugbane, bugwort, rattleroot, rattletop, rattleweed, or macrotys.

Black Cohosh has a long and interesting diverse history of medicinal use. It was traditionally used by Native Americans and early colonists to treat things such as of general malaise, malaria, rheumatism, abnormalities in kidney function, sore throat, and menstrual irregularities

Today Black Cohosh is more commonly used as a natural remedy for symptoms of menopause in particularly hot flashes. Our investigation of historical as well as current medical data showed a definite effect in women. Results of our review of clinical studies determined that its effectiveness really is across the board, however, it is generally agreed upon that there is enough evidence to support its use. We determined the inconsistencies can be correlated with the different types of Black Cohosh products with varying bio-active levels and dosages utilized in the study.

According to Dr. Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, a recognized expert in herbal medicine and integrative approaches to women’s health, in her very recent online webinar this week, more than 16 studies found that black Cohosh eases hot flashes/night sweats, mood and join pain. Two-twelve month studies failed to show any benefit for Black Cohosh over placebo for menopausal hot flashes. But still 20-30% said it did make a difference. She goes on to further say that Black Cohosh can be helpful for women who suffer from anxiety. Dr. Low Dog highly recommended the combination of Black Cohosh and St. Johns Wort as an ideal combination resulting in a 50% reduction in symptoms in women at 16 weeks!

Lastly, to ensure a top grade quality of Black Cohosh extract, and the correct botanical plant species, our team choose to grow and manufacture our own! We firmly believe that the essence of a plant’s power is captured by using the full spectrum of its active components or sometimes known as bioactive parts. (We used all the components of the plants chemistry.) The synergy of all bioactives is essential to ensure the efficacy captured is available and readily usable by the human body. Starting with our own North American grown Black Cohosh we strongly believe has much to do with the finished product’s quality; quality has many different layers (parts of the plant used, time of harvest and processing protocol).