Many supplements marketed at perimenopausal and menopausal women are severely overpriced and lack meaningful doses of recommended nutrients, an analysis by Which? has found.
Analysis of 26 supplements from popular retailers including Holland & Barrett, Boots and Amazon found none met the standards required to be named as a Which? Best Buy.
The team concluded that buying a high-quality multivitamin and adding in targeted supplements where needed would be more effective than many products on the market.
Nutritionists analysing the supplements looked at the latest evidence around 78 active ingredients.
None of supplements they looked at contained the right combination of nutrients at appropriate doses to support their use specifically for menopause, the experts concluded.
During menopause, these are calcium and vitamin D, which support bone health as oestrogen levels decline – while magnesium, iron, B vitamins, vitamins C, E and K, iodine, selenium and zinc can also help, they said.
They found that Asda A-Z Multivitamins & Minerals, costing just 6p a day (£22 a year) contained all essential vitamins, plus 200mg of calcium and 100mg of magnesium.
By comparison, other supplements available online and costing many hundreds of pounds a year either contained key nutrients in doses too low to be beneficial, known as ‘fairy-dusting’, or omitted important vitamins and minerals altogether, Which? said.
Many products combined vitamins and minerals with botanical ingredients, but Which? noted the evidence for botanicals such as black cohosh, soy, and red clover was ‘mixed’ and often found in doses far below those used in clinical trials.
Even the best scoring menopause supplement looked at cost 15 times more than the basic Asda multivitamin, the team said.
Which? concluded the supplements industry had become a ‘wild west’ and regulators were not doing enough to get a grip on ‘dubious marketing’ and ‘unchecked quasi-medical claims’ from companies ‘apparently seeking to cash in on people’s health anxiety and insecurities’.
It advised consumers to check what they were actually getting for their money before paying a premium.
Which? nutritionist Shefalee Loth said: ‘Navigating mid-life is tricky enough but with so many products making big claims about how they can help, finding what actually works can be completely overwhelming and costs can spiral.
‘Our research shows that despite these big claims the vast majority of these products lack the nutritional basics to cover the deficiencies most likely to happen with menopause despite some costing hundreds and hundreds of pounds a year.
‘Our advice is to look beyond the marketing hype and think carefully about what you actually need.
‘A higher price doesn’t automatically mean a product will be effective and a cheap multivitamin could do the same job without breaking the bank.’
Last month, warnings were issued that women have been posing as men online to buy testosterone because they cannot access prescriptions on the NHS.