Vitex Chasteberry Extract

What are the Key Health Benefits of Vitrex Chasteberry Extract?

• Vitex has been used for 2500 years to help menstrual abnormalities, ranging from PMS to menopause
• In Europe, Vitex agnus-castus is one of the most popular botanicals for treating all kinds of menstrual disorders.
• Clinically proven to reduce headaches, bloating, fatigue, cravings for sweets, mood swings, and acne, often after as little as one month
• Reduces headaches
• Decreases feelings of anxiety or irritability
• Stabilizes mood swings
• Decreases breast tenderness
• May increase milk production for nursing mothers
• Numerous clinical studies document its benefit.
• The combination of actions produced by vitex seems to restore the estrogen/progesterone balance.
• Clinical studies using vitex show a reduction in headaches, breast tenderness, bloating, fatigue, cravings for sweets and also feelings of anxiety, irritability, depression and mood swings, often after only one month.
• Physicians in Europe commonly recommend vitex for the treatment of hot flashes.
• Safety of vitex is exceptional. In one study, vitex was given up to 9 years in some cases, with very few side effects.
• Herbalists have used vitex with much success in treating teenage acne.

How Does Vitex Chasteberry Extract Help?

First of all, what does vitex not do? Vitex does not act as a phytoestrogen (plant estrogen), a term commonly associated with balancing the female reproductive system. Vitex Works through another important chemical pathway, the hypothalamus-pituitary axis, to balance female hormones.Vitex increases luteinizing hormone production while inhibiting the release of follicle stimulating hormone,leading to an indirect increase in progesterone and normalization of prolactin levels. The combination of actions produced by vitex seems to restore the estrogen/progesterone balance.

How Does Vitex Chasteberry Extract Support PMS?

Vitex extract has been used in Germany since the 1950’s,and numerous studies document its benefit (an extract by Madaus AG called Agnolyt, was used in the clinical studies). Clinical studies using vitex extract show a reduction in headaches, breast tenderness, bloating, fatigue, cravings for sweets and also feelings of anxiety, irritability,depression and mood swings, after only one month.

Vitex tincture, at an average daily dose of 42 drops, was prescribed for 2,447 women who had a variety of menstrual disorders including PMS. Although this was an uncon-trolled study, both patients and physicians reported that vitex significantly improved symptoms. At the end of the study 31% of patients had complete relief of symptoms and 55% reported significant improvement. “The doctors and patients were satisfied with the treatment in over 90% of cases, i.e. symptoms either disappeared altogether or were significantly improved. The good acceptability of the preparation is also shown by the long duration of the treatment, with a mean of 5 months, and up to 9 years in some cases. The tolerance is exceptional: only 2.3% of patients experienced unwanted effects with the treatment...” (Loch, et al)

In another uncontrolled observational study 1,542 women were given 42 drops of vitex tincture (Agnolyt) each day.Among the patients, 33% had complete relief of symptoms while 57% reported improvement. Again, their doctors rated vitex tincture as very good, good, or satisfactory in 93% of the cases (Dittmar, et al).