10/12/2026
🌺Honoring October as month, we are going to feature this month’s herb blurb on actaea racemosa L, formerly known as cimicifuga racemosa, and commonly known as black cohosh. This herb is native to eastern North America and traditionally been used by Native Americans to treat “female complaints” such as menopausal symptoms, fibroids, PMS, and menstrual disorders.
🌿There is concern that black cohosh has phyto-estrogens that could potentially increase risk for hormone positive cancers, however, research shows that black cohosh does not exert estrogen-like effects on hormone levels (e.g., LH, FSH, or estradiol) or on estrogen-sensitive tissues like breast tissue; rather studies have shown that it can actually reduce breast cancer risk by over 50%!
💞Black cohosh has been used safely to reduce menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, anxiety and irritability in women who have had hysterectomies and oophorectomies and in breast cancer patients, and may offer additional protection from invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women and cancer recurrence. Black cohosh has also been found to be well tolerated, have no significant liver toxicity, and can be synergistic with breast cancer treatments such as tamoxifen and some chemotheraputics.
🩺Overall, black cohosh is a safe, non-hormonal, herbal option for menopausal symptoms in hormone sensitive cancer patients.
