So raspberry leaves are an old folk remedy for human “female problems” that has been picked up by the equestrian supplement world as a way to mellow out hormonal mood swings in mares.
I was wondering if anyone has any verified information on what the active ingredient is, and how it works?
Googling your exact question presented several interesting results in both humans and horses.
Yeah, when I Google the results are all over the place, and there’s no consensus on what it does for people or what the active ingredients that have the effects are.
Flavonoids (anti-oxidants)-- they have “estrogenic” properties because they have a structural similarity as estrogen, so they readily bind to estrogen receptors. Thus denying the “real” estrogen from connecting there.
Oh very interesting. So they block the effect of estrogen?
I got my PhD in flavonoids from Google University :lol: so I will let someone with actual knowledge chime in. (But yeah, from the couple of things I read, that’s what it sounds like.) It is interesting-- I started my search certain that it was homeopathic bunk, but like above poster says, there seems to be solid basis. Given that I am in the throes of perimenopause and associated night sweats, I’m definitely intrigued.
Now soy also has phytoestrogens, but is said to be bad for cranky mares because it increases the estrogen?
I would think you would have to feed a LOT of soy to affect that change. Good grief! That reminds me of all the human body builders who won’t touch soy because supposedly it will give them man boobs. :lol:
To be fair, I had a filly start lactating when I fed her a ration balancer, a fat supplement with soy meal and soy oil, plus a couple pounds of a hay stretcher product made of soy hulls. At the time, I wasn’t aware of quite how much soy I was piling in her nor did I know it could be problematic. However, the total amount of feed she was receiving wasn’t all that great- maybe 5 or 6 pounds total per day.
On the original topic: I have no citation on this, but I thought raspberry was supposed to be higher in magnesium?
If you are having perimenopause symptoms, you certainly don’t want to take an estrogen blocker. The symptoms come from decling estrogen, not too much!
No, it’s the opposite. It replaces the estrogen that’s been depleted. Not as effectively as the real stuff (it’s only like 30% “potency”) but it’s at least something. Google it, lots of results pop up. That said, I’m also in a very high risk category for breast cancer (which they believe is fueled by estrogen, so thus far I’ve traded the perimenopause symptoms in return for lowering my BC risk. (TMI, and sorry OP that I’ve hijacked the thread!)
No, it’s all interesting!
Another sidetrack: does anyone know if the compounds in raspberry leaves are also present in other plants of the same family? Specifically I was wondering about that invasive species in the PNW, Himalayan Blackberry ( aka the Kudzu of the PNW). My mare is very interested in eating blackberry leaves, despite the crazy thorns. She prefers summer grass, but will eat the leaves when there is no grass (they stay green right into winter). I doubt anyone has ever tested blackberry for anything of course.
Hmmm, in that case it wouldn’t have an effect unless your mare was magnesium deficient, as is the case with the magnesium calming supplements.
Is there any relationship between Mg demands and ovulation cycles? I think it’s plausible that Mg levels could dip during points of the cycle, especially points that may be associated with “PMS” like symptoms (for lack of a better term). But I’m just postulating why extra Mg may be of benefit to females… I may be barking up the wrong proverbial tree.
This is all stuff I could Google if I were to dedicate the time to it.
@HungarianHippo - to continue careening down your tangent, have you looked into black cohosh/Remifemin? Dr. Google indicates it is OK for BC risk, but your doctor will have better input. It really helped my symptoms and “crazies.” My doc didn’t want me on it longer than a year, but that was long enough to get me through the worst issues.
raspberry leaves have a high magnesium content. Magnesium can help with muscle cramping and also general muscle tightness.
I’ll check it out. I haven’t tried anything, really, but at this point it really affects my sleep and I’m pretty sick of it. Thanks!
blackberry and raspberry are in the same genus, Rubus,
here is a nice overview of Rubus ethnobotany and modern sciences
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1934578X0800300319
a leased a horse for a while that was also a blackberry eater, though I think he likes the fruit more than anything. Purple nose
Erna Gunther in her book “Ethnobotany of Western Washington” collected oral history of plant use by native peoples. There are quite a number of native Rubus genus plants, so I quickly looked through them.
This book predates the common presence of the HImmy invasive.
All peoples used the fruit fresh; salmonberry got its name for its wide use as a go along with salmon. Many peoples used leaves as an astringent ( paste of leaves as poultice or band-aid) and for sore throat and anemia ( tea) but medicinal use was not widespread.
Yeah, I had triple positive breast cancer, which is fueled by estrogen. My oncologist put me into chemical menopause, and after about a year I’m in real menopause. It sucks because some of those side effects of menopause can be mitigated by estrogen replacement, which, of course, I cannot do. I’d be terrified to even try raspberry leaf, never mind the topical estrogen (premarin) to increase … ahem … lubrication.
We use it on our Family Milk Cows when they calve to help flush out udder edema so the milk flows better. So in our case it is a good diuretic.
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