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Amberen

Amberen

Overall Rating

2.0

5 Customer Reviews

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Summary

Amberen is a hormone-free supplement designed to elevate your estrogen levels in order to lessen the impact of unpleasant menopause symptoms. There’s a small number of short-term studies that demonstrate promise, but this supplement is likely not worth the price or the risks.

Pros

  • Some scientific support for short-term benefits

Cons

  • No long-term evidence for safety and efficacy
  • At least one case of a heart attack that may be related to Amberen use

Amberen Review - Is It Safe & Effective?

By Anthony Dugarte, M.D., C.S.C.S

Updated on: Jun 30, 2020

What Is Amberen?

Amberen is a supplement that allegedly helps alleviate the common symptoms of menopause. This non-herbal, non-hormonal supplement purportedly works to re-stimulate your body's natural estrogen production.

It purportedly does so by restoring communication between the hypothalamus and your organs to better regulate hormone production. The goal is to encourage your body to produce more estrogen and consequently reduce the symptoms of menopause.

The company claims Amberen is designed to treat up to twelve menopause symptoms, including hot flashes, night sweats, sleeplessness, mood swings, low energy, difficulty concentrating, irritability, low sex drive, weight gain, joint aches, headaches, and stress.

As these are related to the rapid decline of your estrogen levels, taking steps to avoid the sudden drop can limit the negative impact of the associated symptoms.

To use Amberen, take two capsules (one orange and one white) daily after eating breakfast. For best results, the company suggests taking it throughout all stages of menopause, or for thirty days at a minimum.

This review outlines the safety and effectiveness of the ingredients and whether Amberen can work for you.

Ingredients

Amberen contains a blend of succinates, amino acids, minerals, and Vitamin E. As companies are not required to list the quantity of each individual ingredient, Amberen provides only the total dose of the entire blend.

This makes it difficult to make any concrete comments about the ingredient's effectiveness because we don't know whether each serving contains enough of the active ingredients to make a difference.

Nonetheless, according to Amberen, this supplement has been studied in double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized human clinical trials.

Every two-capsule dose of Amberen contains 400mg total of the following ingredients:

  • Ammonium Succinate is often included in supplements that claim to reduce menopausal symptoms for its suspected ability to work on the hypothalamus to hormone production. In both mice and women, it may limit the negative impact of symptoms like hot flashes, headaches, and anxiety, while also increasing estrogen levels.
  • Calcium Disuccinate is important for bone health. It is often necessary to supplement in menopausal women as drops in estrogen levels are associated with osteoporosis.
  • Magnesium Disuccinate is another mineral that can play a role in improving symptoms related to menopause, as well as bone health.
  • Zinc Difumarate is a mineral that is added to the supplement to trigger activity for more than 300 enzymes and to help your system synthesize and secrete hormones.
  • Glycine is an amino acid found in foods like meat, fish, and dairy products. It is often included in dietary supplements as it may promote deeper sleep.
  • Monosodium L-glutamate: According to Amberen, Monosodium L-glutamate (MSG) is an amino acid form of salt that regulates chemical reactions and stabilizes energy status. There might be a reason to be wary of MSG. Here's what Dr. Dean, a well-published health, diet, and nutrition expert, told us: "When MSG reaches the brain, it can produce an MSG rush with flushing, headaches, scalp tension, migraine, and seizures. MSG also lowers the pain threshold for people with chronic pain, headaches, and fibromyalgia. This can occur in susceptible people. Who are those susceptible people? Those with magnesium deficiency."
  • Tocopheryl Acetate (vitamin E): The National Institutes of Health states that this fat-soluble antioxidant protects cell membranes and stabilizes general cell functioning.

It's important to note that the company sponsored the research studies, though we can still gain some insight by examining the results.

A 2016 study put Amberen to the test in menopausal women over a 3-month span. Those that were randomized to treatment with Amberen improved their anxiety, body weight, waist circumference, and estrogen levels.

More recently, researchers pooled the data from the 2016 study with an identical 90-day trial. They concluded that those treated with the supplement improved anxiety, body weight, BMI, waist circumference, and levels when compared to placebo.

Again, there is a conflict of interest as the researchers were paid consultants for Lunada Biomedical. However, they did disclose this information, and the study underwent a peer-review process.

Thus, the big takeaway is that the results of these trials do back some of the claims made by Lunada Biomedical, though they only point to the safety and efficacy in the short-term. There is no data that supports the long-term benefits of Amberen.

Side Effects

Though Amberen offers a blend of natural ingredients, this does not guarantee safety.

The presence of published research does strengthen the claim that this supplement is safe when used as directed, however. In the pooled data study, those using Amberen did not report any adverse effects.

Keep in mind there aren't many studies examining this blend of ingredients, and those that do have tested Amberen only in the short-term.

There is also some support that Amberen may elevate estrogen levels. Managing hormone levels is a tightly regulated and complicated process, so managing them on your own can be risky.

For example, there's at least 1 case of a heart attack that may be related to the use of Amberen.

Even if you are able to avoid traditional medical management for your symptoms, your doctor should be included in your plan of care to ensure safety.

The Cost

When purchased directly from the company website, the prices are as follow:

  • 30-Day Supply: $39.99
  • 90-Day Supply: $74.99
  • 90-Day Supply with auto-enrollment: ($59.94, Buy 2 get one 1, introductory offer only)

When you enroll in the authorship program, you are sent out a 60-day supply and charged $59.94 every 60 days. All orders include free shipping.

Amberen is also sold on amazon and you may get a slightly better value from there. These are the following prices:

  • 30-Day Supply: $29.97
  • 60-Day supply: $54.99
  • 90-Day Supply: $74.98

Pros And Cons

The Bottom Line

There is available research supporting some of the proposed benefits of Amberen. The support is limited and only demonstrates short-term results, however.

Customer reviews of Amberen show that many women have found it to be a viable solution for symptoms like restless sleep and hot flashes, though we found less evidence that it makes a difference in other menopause symptoms like irritability, weight gain, and joint aches.

In fact, a few women stopped taking Amberen because it caused them to retain water weight.

While the limited data may offer promise, there is no evidence supporting the long-term safety and efficacy of Amberen. Managing hormone levels on your own can be risky - there's at least 1 Amberen-related heart attack that has been reported.

For these reasons, speak with your doctor about your symptoms to determine the safest plan of care.

Customer Reviews

2.0 Stars out of 5 Reviews
5 Star:0% 4 Star:20% 3 Star:20% 2 Star:0% 1 Star:60%
40% Recommend This Product
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Posted on Mar 6, 2019

Retains water

By Lisa B., Long Island, NY, Verified Reviewer

Within the fourth day, my hot flashes, night sweats, and energy level and concentration were much better, This was a plus. However, I noticed the reason I was finally sleeping at night was because I was retaining my water weight so I wasn't getting up to use the bathroom four times in the night. My body can retain up to ten pounds of water weight. This is a side effect I do not like at all. This is why many women are saying they gained weight and immediately lose once they stop taking the pills, it's the water they are retaining. As of now, I am going to stop taking them, which is upsetting me. Wish there was a way they can improve the product. I do recommend if you can find a way of not retaining the water without having to take a water pill. Personally I do not want to have to take any additional pills, and the water weight will make it harder on me when exercising.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Helpful Review? 4 People Have Voted

Posted on Jan 16, 2019

Horrible weight gain

By Robin G., Cincinnati, OH, Verified Reviewer

I began using Amberen with such high hopes, but within a week I began feeling more tired than I ever have been. Then came the weight gain - 11 pounds in three weeks. I then (unfortunately) read reviews and discovered this is a common problem. I did not even finish the 30-day pack. I stopped taking it on a Friday, and by Wednesday (five days), 8 pounds came off confirming that this product was not for me. Good luck ladies.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Helpful Review? 6 People Have Voted

Posted on Sep 12, 2018

Spotting

By Rose D., California, Verified Reviewer

I read about these pills, so I bought them for my daughter. She tell me they have helped her feel better. My concern is now she spotting. Is this normal? She is three weeks in. Please let me know if this has happened to other women.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Helpful Review? 7 People Have Voted

Posted on May 29, 2018

It doesn't work!

By Paula B., Cleveland, OH, Verified Reviewer

This product does not work. I took it as directed for the 90 days. I feel worse. I have more anger and anxiety than before I started Amberen. Don't waste your money. I did better on Estroven but decided to give Amberen a chance because it was supposed to tackle more of the symptoms of menopause.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Helpful Review? 10 People Have Voted

Posted on Jan 30, 2018

Don’t buy

By Susan Ellsworth, Lavale, MD, Verified Reviewer

I used this product it did nothing for me; no energy, gained weight, and hot flashes were still unbearable. What’s the worst is when I tried to write a review on their site, they BLOCKED me! To me, that's not fair; you need to show the bad with the good.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Helpful Review? 14 People Have Voted
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