An Introduction to Red Clover Dosage

Red clover (Trifolium pratense) is an herbal supplement that is typically used for natural menopause relief. Unlike medications (for which the standard doses have been well established in carefully designed studies), there is less information available about the best dosage for herbal supplements, including red clover.

 

With prescription (and non-prescription) medications, researchers establish the most effective and safest doses in special studies, known as dose-range studies. These studies are done early in the development of medications, long before they are ever approved. However, because herbal supplements do not need FDA approval, dose-range studies are rarely performed. Without these studies, only vague "trial and error" information is available.

 

Some information about red clover dosing can be obtained from clinical studies and from practical experience with the supplement. For natural menopause relief, doses of red clover standardized to 40 mg to 80 mg of isoflavones are often recommended. Such products are often called "standardized" red clover products. Nonstandardized products may contain much less of the isoflavones (even though they may contain the same amount of red clover overall), which is a problem because the isoflavones are the active components of red clover. One of the most popular red clover products, Promensil™, contains 40 mg of isoflavones per tablet (so the recommended dose would be one to two tablets daily).

 

There is not enough information available to recommend a safe and effective dose of red clover for any other condition (other than for treating the symptoms of menopause).