The chaste tree is used medicinally for its berries, which contain certain properties that can affect female sex hormones. Also known as vitex, chaste berry may help in treating symptoms associated with PMS, fibrocystic breast disease, irregular menstruation and female infertility. The typical dosage is 40 drops of liquid chaste berry extract or 35 mg to 40 mg of powdered extract once daily in the morning. You'll likely need to take chaste berry for at least three menstrual cycles to determine how well the herb works for you.
Treating PMS
If you frequently experience symptoms associated with premenstrual syndrome, or PMS, taking chaste tree berry may help. Chaste tree berries contain constituents like terpenoids, iridoid glycosides and flavonoids, which stimulate the pituitary gland to produce more luteinizing hormone, according to the University of Michigan Health System. This hormone boosts the production of the female sex hormone progesterone and suppresses overproduction of prolactin, which act to normalize the menstrual cycle. These hormones also help to ease certain PMS symptoms like breast tenderness. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center cites a double-blind study of 178 women that revealed taking 1 tablet three times daily of chaste berry extract eased PMS symptoms, such as depression, irritability, breast tenderness and headaches, over the course of three menstrual cycles. Double-blind studies have also found that taking chaste berry can reduce elevated prolactin levels. The University of Michigan points to two other controlled clinical trials that discovered taking 20 mg daily of concentrated chaste berry extract reduced PMS symptoms. A small study also found that taking chaste berry slightly decreased PMS-related acne.
Treating Fibrocystic Breast Disease
You may benefit from taking chaste berry extract if you have fibrocystic breast disease, also called cyclic mastalgia, which causes breast pain during menstruation. One double-blind clinical trial of 97 women with fibrocystic breast disease found that taking chaste berry extract substantially decreased the breast pain associated with the condition compared with taking the placebo, according to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Another double-blind study found that taking 32.4 mg of liquid chaste berry extract eased breast tenderness from fibrocystic breast disease. Chaste berry's effectiveness in reducing breast pain and tenderness associated with cyclic mastalgia is due to the herb's effects on reducing prolactin levels, notes the University of Michigan Health System.
Treating Amenorrhea and Female Infertility
Chaste berry's effects on lowering mildly elevated prolactin levels may also help to boost your fertility and treat amenorrhea, a condition that causes you to stop having periods or have irregular menstrual cycles. If you have amenorrhea or fertility problems, you likely have elevated prolactin levels in your body, according to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Two double-blind studies failed to find substantial benefits in treating female infertility, but one clinical trial of 48 women with infertility found that taking chaste berry over the course of three months helped seven of the women to become pregnant and 25 other women to have normal progesterone levels. Another double-blind study revealed that significantly more of the infertile women who took 30 drops of chaste berry fluid extract twice daily became pregnant than the women who took a placebo, according to the University of Michigan Health System.
Treating Irregular Menstruation
Increasing progesterone levels and decreasing prolactin may also help to treat your irregular menstrual cycles. Chaste berry's effects on these hormones can help you if you have dysmenorrhea, or painful menstruation, and menorrhagia, or heavy menstruation, as well as endometriosis and otherwise irregular periods, according to the University of Michigan Health System. Like chaste berry's actions in treating PMS symptoms, the herb can help to reduce dysmenorrheal-associated pain. Chaste berry may also help to treat menorrhagia and irregular periods by regulating your menstrual cycle. Although no scientific evidence exists supporting chaste berry's use in treating menopausal symptoms, the herb may help in this manner as well, according to the University of Pittsburgh.
