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Two UK reports ask what is really in menopause supplements

A UCL study of 201 products and a Which? review of 26 found the same pattern, a wide mix of ingredients with little in common, doses that often don't match the research, and big price differences. Here is what they found and how to read your own label.

· By the Replenish NutrAI research team · Written with AI assistance

What happened

In September 2026, researchers at University College London published an analysis of 201 menopause supplements sold through nine major UK retailers and online sellers, in the journal Climacteric. A few weeks later, the UK consumer group Which? reviewed 26 popular perimenopause and menopause supplements from Amazon, Boots and Holland & Barrett, and did not recommend any of them.

The two reports were done separately, but they point the same way.

  • No common recipe. The UCL team found that no single ingredient, and not even a single type of ingredient, appeared in every product. Herbs were in 80% of them, vitamins in 77% and plant oestrogen-like compounds such as red clover and soy in 74%.
  • Key nutrients often missing. Half of the products had no vitamin D, and fewer than a quarter (23.9%) had calcium, even though menopause societies highlight both for bone health.
  • Doses that vary, and sometimes fall short. UCL found wide variation in doses and noted that some nutrients can cause harm when taken in excess over time. Which? said many products combined weak evidence for their botanicals with low doses of the active ingredients.
  • Price. Which? found some menopause supplements cost up to £1.33 a day, against as little as 6p a day for some multivitamins.

Brands responded that supplements are not medicines for treating menopause symptoms, that the form of a nutrient affects how well it is absorbed (and its price), and that a product should be judged as a whole formula rather than ingredient by ingredient.

What the research says

The UCL study is a label analysis, not a clinical trial, so it doesn't tell us whether any product works. Its senior author, Professor Joyce Harper, said the market is growing quickly despite limited scientific evidence that many of these products improve symptoms, and the team called for more high-quality research. The study also flagged black cohosh, which has been linked to rare cases of liver injury.

Both reports land on the same practical point: an ingredient being in the bottle is not the same as an ingredient being there in the form and amount that was studied. A herb that helped hot flashes in a trial at one dose may be present at a fraction of that dose, as a different extract, or hidden inside a "proprietary blend" with no amount listed at all.

What it means for you

When you look at a menopause supplement, these are the questions worth asking, and worth bringing to your doctor or pharmacist:

  • Does the label give the amount of each ingredient, or is it hidden in a blend?
  • For each herb, was it studied for menopause symptoms, and at what dose and in what form?
  • Does it overlap with what you already take, such as a multivitamin, vitamin D or calcium, so that you could end up taking too much?
  • Does it include anything with known safety cautions, such as black cohosh and the liver?
  • What does it cost per day, and how does that compare with buying the one or two ingredients you actually need?

Sources

We summarise news in our own words and link to the original reporting and the primary sources. This is general information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor before starting or changing any supplement.

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