When it comes to relieving menopause symptoms, you have more options than you might think. In fact, in addition to the more conventional methods, there are quite a few natural alternatives – herbs, vitamins and other nutrients and elements.

Admittedly, some are a little “iffy,” surrounded by a lot of hype, but not much substance. But then there are some that are worth their weight in gold.

So, which supplements should you be looking at for menopause relief? Here’s ten you shouldn’t be without!

Hormone replacement therapy or, HRT, was once thought to be the miracle treatment for the wide array of symptoms related to menopause. Caused by a hormone imbalance, scientists thought if we could control the fluctuation, we could minimize the physical effects. Essentially, restore the balance, alleviate the symptoms.

And in theory, that sounded perfectly logical.

But then in 2002, the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) announced the first round of results in their study on the long-term effects of hormone therapy on post-menopausal women, the first study of its kind. The research focused on two drugs – Premarin (estrogen) and Prempro (estrogen and progestin) – and the results were disastrous.

The initial goal was to determine if the drugs could help prevent or reduce heart disease in healthy women, ages 50-79, but data showed that Prempro not only increased the risk of heart disease, but also breast cancer, stroke and blood clots in the lungs. In fact, the report was so frightening that the researchers decided they had seen enough. The Prempro study was discontinued immediately.

The Premarin study came to a close a few years later, with similarly bad results and for a while, it looked like hormone replacement therapy was no longer an option.

But then new researchers took another look and claimed that the old research wasn’t as dire and conclusive as we all might have thought. Sure, there was definitely some risk they said, but not nearly as high as originally reported and well, whatdya’ know? Here was another, newer study showing a 30% decrease in the risk of heart disease for women that began hormone therapy soon after entering menopause.

Maybe HRT wasn’t so dangerous after all. Maybe… but then another study emerged.

This study revealed that breast cancer spread to the lymph nodes faster in women taking an estrogen/progestin supplement than in those who didn’t. This increased risk seemed to disappear once you stopped taking the supplements, but that didn’t help the women who weren’t ready to stop and once again, HRT lost its appeal.