Replacement for Replacement Therapy
Rationale for Low-dose Production with Synergistic Herbs


It is not always true that If a little is good, more is better. This is
certainly NOT the case with hormones!

As indicated in my book, Hormone Replacement Therapy : Yes or No, very few hormone molecules are required to produce a major effect. Compared to other molecules in your body, that amount of a particular hormone we might manufacture is not unlike one crystal of salt in a large swimming pool. Keep this in mind when you consider intervening with hormones and hormone precursors that you swallow or apply to your body.

Endless success stories have been reported by women using low-dose progesterone formulas combined with tried-and-true herbs - herbs known to help women over the centuries. Success stories have also been reported by women who have used applications with high doses of progesterone. This is okay, provided the women using high dose formulas are under doctor's care. If you use such a product, you must be monitored.

The value of using a product with comparatively lower doses of the precursors or the hormone itself is that these products are safe in small doses. In fact, the amount used in a good formula complies with FDA recommendations. Not only is such a product safe - because of the low amounts of these constituents - but they are also more generally effective.

Products that contain herbs such as Siberian ginseng, burdock root, black cohosh, chamomile, etc., offer an orchestrated formula that enhances the hormone efficiency - without the use of more hormones. Add the benefits of these time - tested herbs, and more than just hormone - related problems begin to disappear. (Any Chinese herbalist will attest to the synergy of herbs: one plus one equals more than two when combined properly.)

Some people object to preservatives used in products that are made with natural ingredients. Think about it! Don't we have to refrigerate natural foods that are alive with enzymes and other life-giving substances? And don't they spoil, even if refrigerated, within a few days? If your carrots do not wilt within a few days, they are not truly organic (that is, totally natural). Check the food in your fridge. You can be sure that any veggie of fruit that has not spoiled within a couple of days is rampant with additives. We Consume them all the time. (That's one of the reasons we take supplements - to help us detoxify.)

A good formulator uses the least amount of the safest preservative available for the "live" maintenance of that particular product. Note that ingredients are listed on a label in order of quantity. The preservative you may question should be far down on the list. If it is,
put your fears at rest.


Betty Kamen, PhD