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For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified medical professional before taking any supplement, herb, vitamin, mineral, or bioactive, especially if you use medications or have a medical condition. Read the full disclaimer.
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EmergingReviewedHigh caution

Herbs & Botanicals

Black Cohosh

Plants used as foods, spices, teas, or traditional supplements. Botanical effects vary by plant part, extract, dose, and medication context.

Page last reviewed: 2026-07-23 - next review due: 2027-01-23

Western herbalismmenopause

High-Caution Safety Flags

Use extra caution before concentrated supplement use, especially with medications, pregnancy, liver/kidney disease, heart conditions, or complex medical history.

liver disease, pregnancy/breastfeeding, hormone-sensitive conditions, product quality

Source Coverage

Included: US reference
Review gap: Canadian reference
Add or verify Health Canada context where an official Canadian reference exists.
Review gap: EU reference
Add or verify EFSA or EU health-claim context where an official EU reference exists.
Included: Clinical / safety source

Function

Root and rhizome botanical used in menopause-symptom products, especially hot-flash and night-sweat contexts.

Natural Sources

Actaea racemosa root, black cohosh rhizome extracts.

Food vs Supplement Context

Natural sources describe where this item appears in foods, culinary ingredients, or traditional preparations. Concentrated supplements can differ by dose, extract type, preparation, standardization, and medication context, so they should be evaluated separately.

Testing & Monitoring Context

  • No routine lab test establishes a required daily need for most foods and bioactives; monitoring is usually based on the intended outcome, dose, medical history, and adverse effects.
  • Liver-safety context: liver enzymes and symptoms such as dark urine, jaundice, severe fatigue, or abdominal pain need medical review.

Suggested Guidelines When Purchasing

What to look for: For botanicals, plant part, extract ratio, standardization marker, preparation type, and medication cautions matter more than the herb name alone.

Use caution or avoid: Avoid casual use when these flags apply: liver disease, pregnancy/breastfeeding, hormone-sensitive conditions, product quality.

  • Prefer ordinary food sources first when they provide the intended compound in a practical way.
  • For supplements, require clear labeling of active ingredient, dose per serving, serving size, and other ingredients.
  • Prefer products with third-party testing or transparent contaminant testing, especially for concentrated extracts, algae, mushrooms, minerals, and sports products.
  • Do not let marketing claims override the evidence, safety flags, source coverage, or dose context on this page.

Intake Guidance

No official DRI

No official RDA, AI, or RDI has been established for this bioactive as a required daily intake.

Evidence Summary

Menopause symptoms

Emerging

NIH ODS and NCCIH sources describe black cohosh evidence for menopause symptoms as inconsistent, with some product-specific research but no broad certainty across products.

Dose context: Extracts and combination products are not interchangeable; no official RDI exists.

Caution: Rare serious liver-injury reports make liver disease, dark urine, jaundice, abdominal pain, and severe fatigue important stop-and-seek-care contexts.

Studies/sources: Black Cohosh Fact Sheet for Health Professionals (2026-08-03), Menopausal Symptoms: In Depth (2026-08-03), Menopausal Symptoms and Complementary Health Approaches (2026-08-03)

Evidence Legend

Established use: Supported by official guidance, regulatory claim context, strong consensus, or repeated human evidence for a specific use.
Promising: Human studies or reviews suggest benefit for specific outcomes, but evidence is not broad enough to treat as settled general guidance.
Emerging: Early human, mechanistic, or mixed evidence; worth tracking, but not strong enough for confident user-facing claims.
Traditional use: Historically or traditionally used, but modern clinical evidence may be limited, mixed, or product-specific.
Category example: Included to describe a supplement or food category, not because a strong health claim is attached yet.
Note: Evidence is inconsistent and rare serious liver-injury reports require clear liver-safety caution.

Sources