What is Pueraria Mirifica used for? (7 Benefits, Male Side Effects)

Pueraria Mirifica is used for symptoms of low estrogen that come naturally with menopause as women age. It contains Phytoestrogens (plant compounds that act like estrogen). Pueraria Mirifica is used for the following benefits:

Antioxidant

reduces oxidative stress and damage
increases antioxidant levels

Relieves Menopause Symptoms

vaginal atrophy (wasting)
vaginal dryness and irritation
vaginal tissue health, ph and skin tone
dyspareunia (pain during intercourse)
hot flashes
night sweats
low libido
mood swings
irritability
irregular or absent periods

Bone Health

osteoporosis
bone density and quality

Cholesterol management

drop in “bad” low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol
increase in “good” high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol
increases fats and sugars metabolism

Anti Breast Cancer

Prevents the growth breast cancer cells

Mental Health

protects against nervous system damage due to decreased estrogen levels
may reduce cognitive decline due to ageing

Other claims

can help soften skin
increases breast size
promotes weight loss
prevents heart disease

Can Pueraria Mirifica help with Weight Gain?

PMS causes an hormonal imbalance which can lead to weight gain on older women (this is because estrogen helps with the metabolism of sugars and fats). Since Pueraria Mirifica has estrogen-like effects, it may reduce the weight gain caused by low estrogen levels that come with menopause.

Can Pueraria Mirifica help with Hair Growth?

Menopause causes thinning of hair in women due to lower estrogen and higher androgen levels. Pueraria Mirifica can help with hair growth, because it reduces the formation of hormones that cause hair loss, such as DHT (Dihydrotestosterone). Pueraria Mirifica can also help with hair growth in other ways:

eliminates clogged hair follicles
improves scalp blood circulation and nourishes hair follicles
protects hair from free radicals in the environment due to its antioxidant properties.

In the video below, the channel “Health Nut Owl” goes through 7 Health Benefits of Pueraria Mirifica:

This is our recommended Pueraria Mirifica supplement (Amazon’s Choice):

Nature’s Answer Pueraria Mirifica Vegetarian Capsules, 60-Count

How long does Pueraria Mirifica take to work?

The time it takes for Pueraria Mirifica to work depends on it use:

For Skin Care and Hair Growth: 1-2 weeks.
For General Health: a few weeks to several months.

However, the time it takes for Pueraria Mirifica to work may be different for each person due to several factors including but not limited to: body size, metabolism and age.

What are Pueraria Mirifica’s Effects on Males?

Pueraria Mirifica is claimed to cause Feminization effects on males due to its phytoestrogens:

Breast tissue growth
Reduced Testosterone
Increased Estrogen
Voice changes
Smooth skin
Less body hair
Stimulates hair growth in scalp

However, there is no meaningful evidence that Pueraria Mirifica can actually induce breast growth:

While Estrogen, if taken in high enough doses can stimulate growth of breast tissue, is not safe to use because it can also increase the risk of breast cancer. Most products do not contain enough Phytoestrogens to emulate the breast cell growth effect of estrogen, and even if they did, it would also increase the risk of breast cancer, just like regular estrogen.
Phytoestrogens also latch on to estrogen receptors, thus they block the action of regular estrogen. However, they only produce a partial effect of estrogen. So they actually decrease the estrogen function, rather than increase. This means Phytoestrogens should decrease breast size, not increase it.

The study below explores the effects of phytoestrogens on primary human breast cancer cells.

Study Information

Title: Effects of phytoestrogens on the activity and growth of primary breast cancer cells ex vivo.
Length: 48 hours.

Subject Information

Gender: Female.
Health condition: breast cancer.

Method used

Breast cancer cells were obtained from patients who underwent primary breast cancer surgery, which were treated for 48 h. with:

17β-estradiol (E₂ )
one of three phytoestrogens (genistein, resveratrol and quercetin, 10^-7 M)
a combination of E₂ and one of the three phytoestrogens

These cells were then extracted for viability and apoptosis assay.

Results

Human breast cancer cell viability was inhibited by all phytoestrogens but induced by E₂ with or without phytoestrogen.
Apoptotic cells, as well as the proteins involved in apoptotic pathway and estrogen receptor (ER) β, were significantly increased in the cells treated with phytoestrogen alone.
The use of E₂ with or without a phytoestrogen revealed completely opposite results.
The proteins involved in the proliferative pathway and ER α expression were all increased in the cultures with E₂ with or without phytoestrogens.

Conclusions

In the presence of E2 , these phytoestrogens lose the effects of suppressing breast cancer cells; contrastingly, induce growth stimulatory effects by inhibiting apoptosis and stimulating proliferation in primary breast cancer cells.
Thus, the effects of phytoestrogens on breast cancer should be considered as E2 still present in breast cancer tissue.

What are Pueraria Mirifica’s Side Effects on Males?

Due to its high estrogen content, there is concern that Pueraria Mirifica could cause diminished fertility as a side effect on males. However, an animal study shows that long-term treatment with Pueraria Mirifica didn’t alter male fertility.

Study Information

Title: Effects of Pueraria mirifica, an herb containing phytoestrogens, on reproductive organs and fertility of adult male mice.
Length: 16 weeks.

Method used

Male mice were divided into four groups (10 mice/group).
Groups 1-3 were orally treated with PM at doses of 0 (PM-0), 10 (PM-10), and 100 (PM-100) mg/kg BW/d in 0.2 mL distilled water
Group 4 was subcutaneously injected with 200 microg/kg BW/d of synthetic estrogen diesthylstilbestol (DES).
The treatment schedule was separated into two periods: treatment and posttreatment (8 wk for each period).

Results

The PM-10 and PM-100 treatments had no effect on testicular weight, sperm number, and serum LH, FSH, and testosterone levels.
Only the PM-100 treatment reduced weights of epididymes and seminal vesicle and the sperm motility and viability.
Histopathological examination demonstrated that testis, epididymis, and seminal vesicle were normal in all doses of PM treatment.
PM-treated males showed no alterations in mating efficiency and on causing pregnancy of their female partners. DES injection impaired all those parameters.
Offspring fathered by the PM- and DES-treated males exhibited neither malformations nor change of body weight gains, and the reproductive organ weights of 50-d old pups were in the normal range.

Conclusions

The present data clearly demonstrate that a long-term treatment of PM at doses 10 and 100 mg/kg BW/d, via oral route, does not alter a male fertility and a hypothalamus- pituitary-testis axis.
Although PM-100 can cause some moderate impairment, no persistent effects were observed. Most of PM-treated mice increased the mating efficiency after stop treatment.

Can Pueraria Mirifica cause Blood Clots?

Conventional hormone replacement therapies for women (such as oral estrogen) can increase the risk of blood clots, stroke and heart attacks. Phytoestrogens such as Pueraria Mirifica don’t increase the risk of blood clots. This means phytoestrogens are a safer alternative to conventional hormone replacement therapy.

Since research regarding phytoestrogens is relatively new, their efficacy as a hormone replacement therapy is questionable.

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Sources

This article makes use of information from the U.S. National Library of Medicine under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

What is Pueraria Mirifica used for? (7 Benefits, Male Side Effects)