Experts mixed on menopause pills, despite Drew’s OK
Drew Barrymore has opened up about being in perimenopause – the transition leading up to a person’s last menstrual period – but now she literally is shouting it from a rooftop to celebrate her new role as brand ambassador for a supplement that promises to offer relief from debilitating symptoms.
Dr. Kellyann &ME Peri + Menopause is a daily pill made up of several “natural ingredients” that together promise to boost metabolism, promote weight loss, ease hot flashes and night sweats, induce calmness, support gut health and reduce sleep disturbances, according to its website. Kellyann Petrucci is a naturopathic doctor who created a women’s health care line that includes such products as bone broth liquid and collagen coffee.
Barrymore, 49, in a paid partnership Instagram post, said the supplement is a “natural solution for hormonal support.”
“I am having insanely incredible results. My body’s like functioning again where it had just come to a complete standstill. It’s wild,” Barrymore wrote in her Instagram caption. “I’ve gotten my power back and I just feel great.”
Yet menopause experts who spoke to USA TODAY aren’t as thrilled about this or the dozens of other supplements marketed to help menopausal women. At the same time, they recognize that more celebrities are bringing menopause to the public’s attention, which not only is boosting awareness but also correcting misperceptions about this complex time in women’s lives.
Barrymore’s team declined USA TODAY’s request for comment.
Some experts fear that the growing market for “natural” menopause treatments – sometimes called “menowashing” – is deterring women away from hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which rigorous studies show is safe and effective for the majority of women. Most herbal supplements, on the other hand, have not been tested in clinical trials.
“These products are being sold to people at a very vulnerable time, which makes me sad because we’ve finally reached a point where menopause is getting attention,” said Dr. Shieva Ghofrany, an OB-GYN and cofounder of Tribe called V. “Believing that there’s going to be one holy grail product, whether it’s pharmaceutical grade or herbal, is unfortunately going to misguide women and further frustrate them.”
All about the menopause supplement Barrymore is talking about
The main ingredient in the supplement is chromium; it’s a trace element that’s naturally found in foods such as meats, nuts and spices, and is thought to enhance insulin activity in the body, according to the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements.
The Dr. Kellyann &ME website says chromium helps with weight loss and boosts metabolism. Research, however, shows that its effects on body mass “have little clinical significance” and studies on the connection are generally of low quality.
Chromium also has been studied for blood sugar control among people with diabetes, high cholesterol and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), but results are mixed and not robust enough to support official recommendations, the NIH says.
The rest of the ingredients are packed into three “proprietary blends,” which are mixes of varying herbs. The Hormonal Health Blend, Menopause Symptom Relief Complex and Digestive Wellness Complex comprise herbs, spices and compounds such as Korean thistle, thyme, saffron, L-theanine and maca root powder.
These blends are purported to help with a range of menopause symptoms such as fatigue and night sweats, but Ghofrany points out that, like chromium, study findings on their effectiveness are contradictory.
Dr. Jen Gunter, an OB-GYN and author of The Menopause Manifesto, wrote in her medical blog called The Vajenda that none of these ingredients are included in the 2023 Menopause Society position statement on nonhormone therapies.
“If a product could do all of this, Big Pharma would have marketed ... this years ago,” Gunter wrote. “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, which, spoiler alert, we will not find.”
Menopause supplements and safety
Supplements in general aren’t regulated as drugs are. In many cases, companies can produce and sell dietary supplements without notifying the FDA, meaning they aren’t subject to gold standard randomized controlled clinical trials.
The real risk lies in “proprietary blends,” experts say.
The “amount per serving” listed doesn’t tell you how much of each herb or spice is included, but rather the total weight of the combined ingredients.
Because you don’t know how much you’re really consuming, you run the risk of issues such as liver injury, Ghofrany said, or interactions with other drugs.
Many supplements include disclaimers on their products or websites that advise people to speak with their doctor before taking them, but even doctors don’t know what’s safe because of the lack of testing.
“As doctors, we have zero ability to comment on whether or not these single herbs or proprietary blends are going to help or hurt. Ultimately we get put in the position of having to cover ourselves and say we just don’t know,” Ghofrany said.
Petrucci said the individual ingredients in the supplement being touted by Barrymore “have been rigorously vetted” by her team, which is led by their “inhouse Harvard University neuroscientist.” Her team also consulted “a number of notable doctors who are proponents of a more holistic approach to menopause based on nutrition and lifestyle changes.”
“The products in our industry (compared with the pharmaceutical industry) are evaluated differently since the ingredients come from nutrients already in our food supply,” Petrucci said. Dietary supplements are “not meant to treat or cure disease but to provide nutrition support that helps to ease symptoms experienced by menopausal women.”
‘Women are desperate to be better’
“Natural” menopause relief may sound enticing, but experts say you should think twice before pursuing supplements instead of evidence-based treatments such as HRT.
“Women are desperate to be better, yet globally, 95% of them who are menopausal aren’t given hormones due to unfounded fears,” said Dr. Louise Newson, a general practitioner and menopause specialist. “If I didn’t take hormones, I would feel absolutely dreadful and wouldn’t be able to work,” adding that “natural isn’t always safe.”
These fears stem from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) trial in 2002 that concluded that estrogen-containing hormone therapy increases risk of heart disease and breast cancer, rendering any benefits moot.
But hundreds of clinical trials since then have found that HRT helps ease menopause symptoms, primarily hot flashes, night sweats and bone loss, without posing significant risks for most women, according to the Menopause Society.
“We shouldn’t divert women away from what menopause is and what hormones can do,” Newson said. “Whether we take hormones or not, we also need to focus on nutrition, exercise and mental health.”
Experts agree that menopause education and awareness is key, as well as an understanding that the symptoms you feel and the treatments that offer relief may change often.
“The earlier women have their diagnosis, the sooner they can get treatment and feel better,” Newson said.