Black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa), a member of the buttercup family, is a perennial plant that is native to North America. Other common names include black snakeroot, bugbane, bugwort, rattle root, rattle top, rattle weed, and macrotys. Insects avoid it, which accounts for some of these common names.

Black cohosh was used in North American Indian medicine for malaise, gynaecological disorders, kidney disorders, malaria, rheumatism, and sore throat. It was also used for colds, cough, constipation, hives, and backache and to induce lactation for breast feeding. In 19th-century America, black cohosh was a home remedy used for rheumatism and fever, as a diuretic, and to bring on menstruation. It was extremely popular among a group of alternative practitioners who called black cohosh “macrotys” and prescribed it for rheumatism, lung conditions, neurological conditions, and conditions that affected women’s reproductive organs (including menstrual problems, inflammation of the womb or ovaries, infertility, threatened miscarriage, and relief of labour pains)

Today black cohosh is known primarily as an herbal treatment for hot flushes and …

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Dietary sources of important nutrients should always be your first choice to boost energy but there are times when a vitamin and mineral supplement can act as an insurance policy. In addition, some herbal supplements have the potential to boost your energy levels if you feel they are not where they should be.

First of all take a good multivitamin and mineral to safeguard against nutritional deficiencies which can cause fatigue. For example, Iron is need for the production of energy; magnesium regulates your energy levels and the B vitamins are vital for metabolism. Choose a supplement containing as many vitamins and minerals as possible. To make sure you are getting enough essential fatty acids which are vital for energy production and good health take a fish oil supplement. In trials, essential fatty acids have been shown to have a significant beneficial effect on people suffering from chronic fatigue.

If you want to try other supplements choose one from the following:

• Siberian ginseng: Improves physical and mental energy levels, especially when under stress and can also normalise blood sugar levels. Dose: 250-500 mg daily.
• Schisandra: Increases physical and sexual energy levels and prevents fatigue by increasing oxygen uptake in cells. Dose: 250-500 mg daily.
• Gingko biloba: Boosts mental function, memory and alertness. Improves circulation to the brain. Dose 120 mg a day.
• Co-enzyme Q10: A vitamin like substance that improves physical energy levels and muscle strength and endurance. Needed by cells to process oxygen and generate energy. Dose 30-60 mg.
• Alpha-lipoic acid: A vitamin like substance that speeds up metabolic reactions involved in energy production in cells. A powerful antioxidant used to boost energy and overcome fatigue. Dose 50-100mg daily.

Vitamin and mineral supplements are widely touted as the panacea for a long and active life. Vitamin C is presumed to fight off colds, betacarotene is touted as a cancer-beating drug, and vitamin E is supposed to defeat ageing and reduce the risk of a heart attack. Alarming new evidence, however, suggests that rather than helping us fight off disease, certain supplements may actually increase the risks of cancer and a range of debilitating diseases.

It appears that taking vitamin supplements in high doses may shunt the body’s biochemistry off in the wrong direction. Scientists are especially worried about people taking high doses of the antioxidant betacarotene, which the body converts into vitamin A.

Researchers are unsure exactly why vitamins, which are so essential to health, can be toxic in high doses. The most likely explanation is that the body is only equipped to deal with the levels found naturally in the environment. If the intake is too far outside the normal range, then the body’s internal chemistry can be shunted out of alignment.

Despite the slowly accruing evidence that certain vitamins in high doses can be damaging, the majority of scientists working in the field are still virtually unanimous in recommending — and taking — a good all round multi-vitamin and mineral supplement containing optimum levels of each vitamin and mineral. This is because overall there’s a lot of evidence that as long as the dose is not dangerously high vitamins and mineral supplements can improve health.

In short, it’s excessively high doses that are toxic; not the doses generally contained in quality vitamin and mineral supplements. So if you are taking a good quality multi vitamin or thinking about supplementing it is safe to do so, as long as the dose is not excessive.