World Menopause Day: Experts spotlight science-backed women’s health ingredients

18 Oct 2023 --- Each year, October 18 is set aside to raise awareness of menopause, break the stigma and highlight the support options available for improving women’s health and well-being. Nutrition Insight discusses the latest developments in menopausal nutrition products with professionals from Kerry ProActive Health, IFF Health, Gencor, dsm-firmenich and PharmaLinea. 

“Research by Kerry’s Health and Nutrition Institute estimates that, by 2025, up to a billion women worldwide will be in menopause, and 80% will experience symptoms, including hot flashes, sleep disturbance, mood swings and sexual health issues,” says Alexandra Boelrijk, global senior R&D director at Kerry ProActive Health. 

“This is fueling interest in products offering benefits for this key stage in women’s lives, with global annual growth of 19% CAGR in supplements with ‘menopause’ in the description from 2018 to 2022 [according to Innova Market Insights data].”

IFF Health’s Vanessa Azevedo, global product innovation marketing manager, and Maider Gutierrez, global health category leader, highlight that menopause is an opportunity to celebrate and empower women, “enabling them to thrive through this life phase as opposed to simply feeling as though they need to survive and endure.” 

With its partners, the company focuses on helping to transform the experience for women in menopause to reinforce that they deserve a rich quality of life. 

Azevedo and Gutierrez add: “Part of that fundamental equation means having an open and honest conversation and prioritizing resources for millions of women who feel overlooked by society, brands and workplaces.” 

Addressing real needs across menopause stages
IFF Health supports empowering healthy living and focuses on developing solutions to address women’s health and wellness needs throughout their lives, explain Azevedo and Gutierrez. 

World Menopause Day aims to raise awareness of menopause and break the stigma. “We recognize that menopause is a topic that is often neglected and stigmatized – resulting in most women feeling ‘invisible.’ We decided to embrace this underserved community by joining forces with GenM — the menopause partner for brands.” 

Together with GenM, IFF Health can provide valuable market and consumer insights to help companies create targeted products and services that cater to the real needs of women going through menopause. 

“We see a lot of potential in offering hormone-free solutions that speak to menopause symptoms in alternative ways,” highlight Azevedo and Gutierrez. 

“Our concepts are formulated to enhance the quality of women’s lives through the peri- to post menopause journey and to complement the beneficial effects of other important habits such as physical activity, adequate sleep and nutrition.”

Common yet underrepresented
Maggie McNamara, marketing director at Gencor, sees that as research builds a better understanding of this phase of a woman’s life, the number of signs and symptoms of menopause seems to grow. 

“The most common number of people may be familiar with the 34 symptoms, which include hot flashes, night sweats and mood changes being among the most talked about.” 

“But conversations around menopause now include signs of insomnia, nervousness, sexual health, mental well-being, itchiness and much more. Ninety percent of women experience menopausal symptoms and only 38% ask their doctor for help.” 

She adds that three in five women claim menopause negatively impacts them at work. For example, in a 2018 survey conducted in the UK, 84% found that menopausal symptoms interfered with their daily livelihood, 12% found the symptoms debilitating and 4% said that the symptoms did not interfere in their lives at all. 

McNamara cites research conducted by Bupa Insurance UK in 2021 that “nearly 900,000 women leave work for an undefined period due to the impact of their symptoms.” 

Research continues to build a better understanding of menopause and related symptoms.Supplement options are still sparse
A reduction in estradiol is a typical trait during menopause, explains McNamara, with associated symptoms affecting women to varying degrees, causing discomfort and distress. 

“Also, the loss of sexual desire in the years around menopause can change. It’s reported that one in every four adult women of all ages experience this, but despite its prevalence, there are few supplement options.”

She notes that Gencor offers three clinically studied botanical ingredients for women experiencing perimenopause and menopausal conditions: Libifem, Genopause and affron. 

“Genopause is a proprietary blend of four botanicals originating in Ayurvedic medicine, and it has demonstrated an ability to aid in reducing vasomotor and other menopause-associated symptoms. Studies with Genopause also showed an effect on other less discussed items, such as accomplishing more tasks, improvements in mood, patience, stamina, vaginal dryness, sleep and avoidance of intimacy.”

McNamara adds that a 12-week double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial with 117 healthy women determined that 1 g daily of Genopause significantly “reduced menopausal symptoms.”

Hormone imbalance 
Boelrijk underscores that the safety and efficacy of Kerry’s ingredients for women’s menopausal health are scientifically substantiated. 

“Kerry offers a range of scientifically backed menopause solutions. Luprenol helps support pre- and post-menopause discomfort related to hormone imbalance, specifically the estrogen decline.” 

Experts highlight the importance of scientific evidence of ingredients’ safety and efficacy.The product is derived from hops (Humulus lupulus) and is a 0.03% standardized extract of 8-prenylnaringenin — the most potent plant-based phytoestrogen discovered, says Boelrijk. 

“It binds to Erα (Estrogen receptor alpha) with approximately 100 times higher affinity than genistein. Studies show that phytoestrogens mimic the effects of human estrogen and reduce the frequency and intensity of hot flashes.”

Kerry’s ingredient, Damilib, benefits women’s sexual health and libido related to hormonal imbalances, particularly pre- and post-menopause. It’s derived from damiana (Turnera diffusa), which has a long history of traditional use as a herbal aphrodisiac and overall health tonic. 

“Acacetin suppresses aromatase, an enzyme that helps convert testosterone into estrogen. With age, aromatase levels rise, reducing free testosterone — a hormone that improves sexual activity, libido and pleasure,” adds Boelrijk. 

Mimicking estrogenic effects 
To alleviate hot flashes, one of the most common and notorious symptoms of menopause, dsm-firmenich has developed geniVida, shares Mary Phillips, marketing director of dietary supplements HNC NA at dsm-firmenich. 

“This is a hormone-free isoflavone that mimics estrogenic effects. This safe and effective pure form of genistein is low dose, soy-free, tasteless, odorless, colorless and allergen-free.” 

“dsm-firmenich has shown that 30 mg of geniVida taken daily will significantly reduce the frequency of hot flashes in menopausal women. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled scientific study has been published in a peer-reviewed journal.” 

She details that the study showed reduced hot flashes in a few weeks — 30% after four weeks and 44% after 12 weeks. 

PharmaLinea’s Your Meno Ease capsules targets menopause symptom relief (Image credit: PharmaLinea).In addition, geniVida Bone Blend, the ingredient is combined with vitamin D, calcium, vitamin K and omega-3 to provide long-term support for bone mineral density. 

Resveratrol and soy isoflavones 
Maja Orešnik, science and research director at PharmaLinea, explains that the company’s choice of ingredients is backed by clinical studies that support the beneficial effects of their raw materials for a specific indication. 

“PharmaLinea’s Your Meno Ease capsules are a clinically supported natural solution for menopause symptom relief. They combine a branded resveratrol source, soy isoflavones and vitamin B6.” 

“Soy isoflavones are one of the most known phytoestrogens that mimic the actions of hormones naturally present in the body. With their ability to bind to activate estrogen receptors, isoflavones can benefit various tissues, especially bone tissue, the cardiovascular system and the urinary tract. They also reduce symptoms of menopause transition, such as hot flashes and night sweats.” 

Orešnik adds that resveratrol is vital in ensuring cognitive and cardiovascular health, primarily due to its vasodilating properties. 

“We use a yeast-derived resveratrol, specifically studied in postmenopausal women and has shown positive outcomes for cognitive and cardiovascular health in this population. Furthermore, beneficial outcomes include improvements in bone metabolism markers, reduced pain perception and improvements in general symptoms of menopause.”

By Jolanda van Hal, with additional reporting by William Bradford Nichols