SHOP BEST SELLERS
Shop our best selling products
Type: Performance Supplements
Protein Powder
Type: Performance Supplements
Electrolytes - Stick Packs
Type: Performance Supplements
Electrolytes
Type: Performance Supplements
Creatine Monohydrate
Type: Core Supplements
Source Magnesium
Type: Core Supplements
Vitamin D3 & K2
Type: Body Essentials
Raw Elements Shampoo
Type: Body Essentials
Raw Elements Conditioner
Type: Body Essentials
Raw Elements Tallow Soap (Lemongrass)
Type: Performance Supplements
Raw Honey
Type: Body Essentials
Raw Tallow Sun Balm
★★★★★ 1,000+ 5 Star Reviews
Pure ingredients
Raw ingredients. Ancient wisdom. Modern results. Every product contains only what nature intended:
- Grass-fed tallow rich in bioavailable nutrients
- Raw honey and adaptogenic herbs in their purest form
- Regeneratively sourced proteins, never denatured
- Zero synthetic additives or lab-made fillers
Small-batch wellness our ancestors would recognize. Because when you honor nature's integrity, your body knows the difference.
Purely Natural, Perfectly You
Let customers speak for us
I love the way this tallow soap makes my hands feel! Just make sure you shake it before use because it does separate. It smells wonderful, very light scent and the tallow has made my hands feel softer then ever before.
I've been taking now supplements vitamin d and my blood results still show that my Vitamin D levels are low. I saw an ad for this brand and decided to try it. I just had my blood work done again and for the first time ever, my Vitamin D was in the green marker. Very happy!
I literally can't drink water without these electrolytes now. I'm not kidding. You guys killed it with this product. I take both flavors to mix and match sometimes :) I hate the taste of other electrolytes. These taste natural and very light on the flavor, which I love. Please don't ever get rid of this product!!!
This is the only protein powder I have ever taken that digests easily for me. I always struggle with bloat after a protein shake. I tried both but I LOVE THE CHOCOLATE.
Honestly love the taste of this honey. I've been buying the orange blossom for months but the saw palmetto is something else. I definitely recommend it!
Clean, great taste and doesn't leave me bloated. I finally can take protein shakes every day. I tried so many different brands, but every time I drank them I felt like puking. Can't wait to try the chocolate protein
Clean and like the moisture
I love this product. it helps to give me energy.
Trust this product! We’ve been deceived by so many products labeled CLEAN but these guys put their money where their mouth is. Sleeping noticeably better after 2 weeks of consistently taking it!
Taste great and mixes well into a smoothie
It's a bit more liquidity than the usual body wash but overall its nice. Smells good and makes my body soft.
It's a bit thick but its still nice and it smells really good. I feel as though it cleans my scalp well
It's a nice consistency, makes my hair really shiny and moisturized and smells amazing.
Love it
The best protein powder I have ever tried
Why PÜRISHH?
Pure Ingredients
Handpicked and ethically sourced from trusted, natural farms.
Effective Results
Each product is designed to protect, nourish, and enhance your skin’s natural balance.
Holistic Wellness
Embrace a balanced lifestyle with supplements and creams that work in harmony with your body.
Frequently Asked Question
What makes PÜRISHH products different from conventional supplements or skincare?
What makes PÜRISHH products different from conventional supplements or skincare?
Our mission is to return to the raw, unprocessed power of nature. Every product is formulated with 100 % natural ingredients and no synthetic preservatives, fillers, or dyes. For example, the Raw Honey Butter contains whipped Wagyu beef tallow, cold‑pressed olive and coconut oils, mango butter, raw honey and beeswax – it moisturizes deeply and can even replace conventional lotion. The Raw Tallow Sunbalm uses grass‑fed tallow, non‑nano zinc oxide and organic oils to provide mineral sun protection while nourishing the skin. Our Protein Powder combines grass‑fed whey and hydrolyzed collagen with organic superfoods to deliver 26 g of easily digestible protein with zero added sugar. Across their range, Purishh keeps ingredient lists short and transparent, using only what is necessary to support health and well‑being.
Are PÜRISHH’s ingredients ethically and sustainably sourced?
Are PÜRISHH’s ingredients ethically and sustainably sourced?
Yes. The founders emphasize sustainable sourcing and ethical treatment of animals and land. Tallow for the skincare range is hand‑sourced from 100 % grass‑fed, Wagyu, halal cattle in New Zealand, ensuring humane slaughter and optimal nutrient quality. Olive and coconut oils are single‑origin, cold‑pressed. The whey in Purishh protein powder comes from grass‑fed cows raised without hormones or antibiotics, and the collagen is hydrolyzed for better absorption. These practices mean customers receive products that are both pure and sustainable.
Why does PÜRISHH use beef tallow in its skincare products?
Why does PÜRISHH use beef tallow in its skincare products?
Grass‑fed beef tallow is biocompatible with human skin; its fatty‑acid profile closely resembles natural sebum, so it’s absorbed efficiently. Properly rendered tallow is a vitamin powerhouse, naturally supplying vitamins A, D, E, and K that support cell turnover, immune function, and antioxidant protection. Tallow also contains oleic, stearic and palmitic acids that strengthen the skin’s barrier, calm inflammation and maintain moisture. Grass‑fed tallow offers a high concentration of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), an anti‑inflammatory fatty acid. These nutrients collectively help Purishh’s Raw Honey Butter and Raw Tallow Sunbalm to moisturize, nourish and protect the skin without clogging pores or causing irritation.
How is PÜRISHH protein powder different, and why is it easy to digest?
How is PÜRISHH protein powder different, and why is it easy to digest?
Many conventional protein powders use cheap sources and add artificial thickeners or sweeteners that cause bloating and digestive discomfort. Purishh starts with grass‑fed whey processed via cold‑filtration, which preserves natural enzymes and bioactive peptides that aid digestion. It also adds hydrolyzed bovine collagen to support joints, skin and gut health. The powder uses organic monk fruit for sweetness and contains no carrageenan, gums, sucralose or artificial preservatives, so it mixes smoothly and is gentle on the stomach. Each serving provides 26 g of complete protein with only 1 g of fat and zero sugar, making it suitable for keto, gluten‑free and non‑GMO diets.
What are PÜRISHH Electrolytes, and how do they support hydration?
What are PÜRISHH Electrolytes, and how do they support hydration?
PÜRISHH’s Electrolytes formula offers clean hydration without the artificial colors and preservatives found in many sports drinks. Each serving includes over 800 mg of unrefined Himalayan salt, providing sodium and trace minerals, plus magnesium malate and potassium chloride. Organic fruit powders (raspberry or lemon‑lime) and monk fruit sweetener give a natural flavor without sugar. The formula helps replenish electrolytes lost through exercise, supports muscle function, and is keto‑friendly.
What is Raw Shilajit, and how should it be used?
What is Raw Shilajit, and how should it be used?
Raw Shilajit is a resin harvested from high‑altitude Himalayan rocks. It forms from decomposed plant material and is rich in minerals and fulvic acid. Traditionally used as an adaptogen, Shilajit helps boost energy, improve stamina and support overall health. Purishh provides 100 % pure Himalayan shilajit. Users typically dissolve a pea‑sized amount in warm water, tea or milk. Due to its potent minerals, start with a small dose and consult a healthcare professional if you have existing medical conditions.
What is the Ishh Leaky Gut Protocol?
What is the Ishh Leaky Gut Protocol?
The Ishh Leaky Gut Protocol is a step‑by‑step program designed to help restore gut health naturally. It includes dietary recommendations, lifestyle tips and natural supplements to support the intestinal lining. The protocol focuses on removing irritants, replenishing beneficial bacteria and repairing the gut barrier. It is not a medical treatment, so customers with chronic digestive issues should consult a healthcare professional before starting.
How should I store PÜRISHH products?
How should I store PÜRISHH products?
Store supplements and protein powders in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. Skincare products like Raw Honey Butter and Raw Tallow Sunbalm are natural and free from artificial stabilizers; keeping them at room temperature helps maintain texture. If you live in a hot climate, refrigerating tallow‑based balms can prevent melting. Always use clean hands or a spatula to avoid introducing bacteria.
When will my order ship, and how long will delivery take?
When will my order ship, and how long will delivery take?
We ask customers to allow 2–3 business days for processing and production before an order ships. Once dispatched, average transit times are 7–10 business days; however, natural disasters, holidays and weather can cause delays. Free standard shipping is offered on orders over US$150 (or equivalent), and shipping costs for smaller orders are calculated at checkout. PÜRISHH cannot guarantee exact delivery dates because delivery is ultimately the responsibility of the shipping carrier.
Can I subscribe and save on regular purchases?
Can I subscribe and save on regular purchases?
Yes. We offer a subscription program for most of our products. Subscribe and save up to 30 % OFF your first delivery. You can choose delivery intervals (e.g., monthly). Subscriptions auto‑renew, but you may skip or cancel at any time through your account.
Are PÜRISHH products allergen‑free or suitable for special diets?
Are PÜRISHH products allergen‑free or suitable for special diets?
PÜRISHH formulates products without common synthetic additives, but some items may contain potential allergens. The protein powder contains whey (a dairy product) and collagen derived from bovine sources; it is unsuitable for vegans or those with dairy allergies. The Electrolytes formula is gluten‑free, sugar‑free and keto‑friendly. Always review ingredient lists carefully and consult your healthcare provider if you have specific allergies or dietary restrictions.
Where are PÜRISHH products made?
Where are PÜRISHH products made?
PÜRISHH sources ingredients globally, such as New Zealand Wagyu tallow and Himalayan shilajit, but manufactures products in small batches under rigorous quality control. By keeping production small and hands‑on, PÜRISHH can maintain freshness and ensure every batch meets the highest standards.
PÜR Insights
A Realistic Starting Point for Women Over 40
A Realistic Starting Point for Women Over 40 Over the past month we've written a dozen posts about women's health after 40: creatine, protein, muscle, bone, brain fog, hydration, skin, and the "hormone balancing" aisle. Each one dug into a single question and followed the research wherever it went, including the places where it went against what supplement companies, us included, might prefer to say. This post pulls it together into something more useful than a reading list: an order of operations. If you're in your 40s and want to do something sensible for how the next few decades go, where do you actually start? The honest answer is shorter than most people expect. A few things have strong evidence and matter a great deal. One supplement has a reasonable case. Quite a lot of what's marketed to women in this decade can be safely skipped. And some questions aren't supplement questions at all. What's actually changing in this decade It helps to know what you're responding to. Muscle and strength. The European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People, in its 2019 consensus published in Age and Ageing, describes muscle mass and strength peaking up to around age 40, holding through midlife, then declining. Beyond age 50, it cites losses of 1 to 2 percent per year in leg muscle mass and 1.5 to 5 percent per year in strength. Strength falls faster than size, which is why that group made strength, not mass, its primary diagnostic criterion. Hormones. Menopause arrives at an average age of 51, with perimenopause typically beginning in the mid-to-late 40s, though timing varies widely. For women, the documented acceleration in muscle loss and the reduced response to training and protein appear mainly around and after menopause. Research specifically reports no significant sex difference in how middle-aged adults respond to training and nutrition. So the 40s are less a cliff than the beginning of a slope. Bone, skin, sleep, and thinking. Bone loss and skin collagen loss both speed up as estrogen falls. Sleep often gets more disrupted. And many women notice changes in memory and focus, which the SWAN study, one of the largest long-term studies of midlife women, found to be real but modest and, so far, apparently temporary. What changes less than you've been told. Two things came up repeatedly in our research. Hormonal shifts change some of the body's set points for fluid balance, but a 2022 review of the menstrual cycle research found no consistent effect on fluid retention, sweat rates, or electrolyte losses. And "hormone balance" isn't a measurable state at all, because healthy hormones are supposed to fluctuate. With that in mind, here's the order we'd suggest. Step 1: Start strength training, and keep it simple If you do one thing from this post, make it this. Across every topic we looked at this month, resistance training kept showing up as the intervention with the strongest evidence. The World Health Organization's 2020 guidelines, published by Bull and colleagues in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, recommend muscle-strengthening activity at moderate or greater intensity, involving all major muscle groups, on two or more days a week. For older adults, they add varied activity emphasizing balance and strength training on three or more days a week to help prevent falls. The WHO describes moderate intensity, relative to your own capacity, as usually a 5 or more out of 10. Two details make this more achievable than it sounds. First, the WHO review found no evidence that higher volumes of muscle-strengthening activity add further health benefit, so you don't need to live in a gym. Second, in research on older adults, training does most of the work. A network meta-analysis of 38 randomized trials found that adding protein supplements to a resistance training program produced no difference on any outcome compared with the training program alone. In practice, that means two or three sessions a week covering legs, hips, back, chest, core, shoulders, and arms, with the effort or weight increasing gradually over time. If you're new to this, a qualified coach for the first few sessions is a good investment. And track strength, not just the scale. Because strength declines faster than muscle size, measures like grip strength and how easily you can rise from a chair without using your arms tell you more about what matters than body weight does. For the detail, see our posts on muscle loss in midlife and on strength training after 40. Step 2: Get enough protein, spread across your meals Protein is the one nutritional input with a direct, well-established role in maintaining muscle, so it comes next. The official recommended dietary allowance is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. Several lines of research suggest that's a floor rather than an ideal. Studies using a method called indicator amino acid oxidation estimated requirements closer to 1.2 grams per kilogram, without finding differences by sex or age. Expert groups go further for older adults: the PROT-AGE Study Group recommends 1.0 to 1.2 grams per kilogram, and the ESPEN Expert Group 1.0 to 1.5 grams per kilogram. It's worth being precise that those two recommendations were written for people over 65. In your 40s, the case is about building good habits before the harder years arrive, not a sudden jump in what you need. How you spread it matters too. PROT-AGE describes a per-meal threshold for older adults of roughly 25 to 30 grams of protein containing about 2.5 to 2.8 grams of leucine. A lot of people get most of their protein at dinner and very little at breakfast. Moving some of it earlier is one of the easiest changes available, and it doesn't require eating more overall. One honest note on protein powders, including ours. If you're using a powder to hit that per-meal threshold, a whey-dominant protein does it more efficiently than a collagen-dominant one, because whey is much richer in leucine. Our blend leans toward collagen, so it isn't the most efficient tool for that particular job. For the full picture, see our post on protein after 40. Step 3: Treat sleep as part of the plan Sleep didn't get its own post this month, but it kept surfacing in almost every topic. In SWAN, the study behind our brain fog post, the researchers point to sleep and mood as factors that worsen during the menopause transition and that affect memory and focus. Their guidance links lack of sleep directly to poor memory and difficulty concentrating. In our magnesium research, sleep was the one area where the case for magnesium held up reasonably well, and it wasn't actually a hormonal effect, but a general one in a group of people who often sleep badly. If night sweats are waking you, the mechanism suggests a practical step. Robert Freedman's research found that in women with hot flashes, the body's temperature buffer between sweating and shivering narrows to almost nothing, so small rises in core temperature trigger a flush. Keeping your bedroom cool targets that directly, and his review notes that cooling the body reduces hot flashes. If your sleep is badly disrupted, that's worth raising with a clinician. Better sleep may do more for your energy and focus than anything on this list. For more, see our posts on brain fog in midlife, magnesium and hormonal change, and hydration and hormonal shifts. Step 4: Wear a tested sunscreen every day For skin, the strongest evidence we found had nothing to do with nutrition. The Nambour trial, published by Hughes and colleagues in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2013, randomly assigned 903 adults under 55 to daily or occasional use of a broad-spectrum sunscreen and followed them for four and a half years. The daily group showed no detectable increase in skin aging, and 24 percent less skin aging than the occasional-use group. The same trial tested a beta-carotene supplement and found no overall effect. Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF rating and a Drug Facts label. Our Sun Balm is not one, and we've said so before. A moisturizer, including our tallow products, helps with dryness and the feel of the skin's surface, but it doesn't protect against UV or rebuild collagen. For the detail, see our post on skin changes in your 40s. Step 5: If you want one supplement, creatine has the clearest case Once the first four steps are in place, creatine monohydrate is the supplement with the most consistent evidence for women in this decade, as long as you're training. The evidence is led by strength. A 2021 review by Smith-Ryan and colleagues in Nutrients concluded that creatine appears effective for strength and exercise performance in pre-menopausal women, and found that post-menopausal women may benefit in muscle size and function at higher doses. A three-level meta-analysis in older adults found a significant strength benefit when creatine was added to resistance training, with an effect size of 0.31 and a 95 percent confidence interval of 0.18 to 0.45, though no significant effect on muscle mass. That's a modest, real benefit, not a transformation. The standard dose is 3 to 5 grams a day of creatine monohydrate. Loading isn't necessary. Without it, your muscles reach full saturation in about three to four weeks. Timing doesn't matter much; consistency does. The common fears mostly don't hold up. A 2023 randomized trial found no significant increase in body weight in women across any phase of the menstrual cycle. A 2025 randomized trial found no effect on hair or on the hormone DHT, though it was in young men. And reviews spanning more than a decade have found no increase in dehydration or cramping. The real caveats: there are no human trials of creatine supplementation during pregnancy, data on perimenopausal women specifically is still limited, and anyone with kidney disease should talk to a doctor first. If you have blood tests, tell your doctor you take creatine, because it raises a kidney marker called creatinine without indicating kidney damage. We sell creatine monohydrate. For all the detail, see our posts on creatine for women, creatine dosing, and creatine myths. What you can probably skip This is the list that saves money, and it's built on the same research. Vitamin D for fracture prevention, if you're not deficient. The VITAL trial, published by LeBoff and colleagues in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2022, gave 25,871 adults vitamin D3 or a placebo and found no reduction in fractures, even in people with lower vitamin D levels at the start. In 2024, the US Preventive Services Task Force issued a draft recommendation against vitamin D supplementation for preventing fractures and falls in adults living in the community, and the Endocrine Society advised against routine supplementation in healthy adults under 75. Correcting a genuine deficiency is still worthwhile, and some groups, such as adults over 75, are still advised to supplement. We sell a vitamin D3 and K2 product, and this evidence complicates the case for it. Collagen supplements for skin aging. A 2025 meta-analysis of 23 trials by Myung and Park in the American Journal of Medicine found benefits when all trials were pooled, but no effect in the high-quality trials or in trials not funded by industry. Industry disputes that interpretation. Our protein blend is mostly collagen, and we wouldn't recommend buying it as a wrinkle treatment. "Hormone balancing" blends and "adrenal support." A 2016 systematic review of 58 studies by Cadegiani and Kater concluded there is no substantiation that "adrenal fatigue" is a real medical condition. Cochrane reviews found no conclusive benefit from phytoestrogens for hot flushes, apart from a narrow signal for high-dose genistein, and evidence on black cohosh that is best described as conflicting. Brain fog supplements. The largest trial of ginkgo, involving more than 3,000 older adults, found no effect on dementia or cognitive decline. The European Food Safety Authority concluded in 2024 that a link between creatine and better cognition hasn't been established. Standalone BCAAs, if your protein is adequate. A 2017 review by Robert Wolfe concluded that the claim that BCAAs alone stimulate muscle building is unwarranted, because muscle needs all the essential amino acids, which complete protein already provides. High-dose vitamin C and E around your workouts. In a 2016 randomized trial by Bjørnsen and colleagues, older men taking them alongside strength training gained less muscle than those on placebo. Other studies found smaller or no effects, but there's no good evidence they help training. Electrolytes "for your hormones." Electrolytes are genuinely useful for heavy sweating, long efforts in the heat, and very low-carb diets. The research doesn't support taking them because of hormonal changes alone. We sell an electrolyte product, and those first reasons are the honest ones. When it isn't a supplement question Some situations need a doctor rather than a product, and recognizing them is part of a realistic plan. See a doctor if memory changes come on suddenly. SWAN's guidance specifically flags this. Gradual, on-and-off word-finding trouble in your late 40s fits the research pattern. Sudden change doesn't. Get persistent fatigue, weight changes, mood changes, or changes in your cycle checked. These overlap with conditions, such as thyroid disorders, that standard blood tests can identify. If you've been diagnosed with osteoporosis or osteopenia, kidney disease, or another condition, work with your clinician rather than substituting nutrition for treatment. If you're pregnant or trying to become pregnant, check supplements with your obstetric provider first. And questions about hormone therapy belong in a conversation with a clinician, who can weigh the options against your own health history. What "realistic" means The word is in the title for a reason. None of the steps above will make you feel like a different person in a fortnight. Strength builds over months of consistent training. Creatine takes about three to four weeks to saturate your muscles at a standard dose, and its effect is modest. Sleep and sun protection pay off over years rather than days. What these steps have in common is that each is backed by evidence you can look up, and together they address the changes that actually define this decade: strength, muscle, bone, skin, sleep, and focus. That's a smaller, less exciting list than the supplement aisle offers. It's also one that holds up. The honest summary For women over 40, the realistic starting point is short. Strength train two or more days a week, covering all the major muscle groups, as the WHO recommends, and track your strength. Eat enough protein and spread it across your meals, including breakfast. Protect your sleep, and keep your bedroom cool if hot flashes are disrupting it. Wear a tested broad-spectrum sunscreen every day. If you want one supplement on top of that, creatine monohydrate at 3 to 5 grams a day has the clearest case, as long as you're training. Beyond that, a lot can be skipped: vitamin D for fracture prevention if you're not deficient, collagen for wrinkles, hormone-balancing blends, adrenal support, brain fog supplements, standalone BCAAs, and high-dose antioxidants around your workouts. Some of those are products we sell, and we've said so in each post. And some things aren't supplement questions at all. Sudden memory changes, persistent unexplained symptoms, diagnosed conditions, pregnancy, and hormone therapy all belong with a clinician. That's the whole plan. It fits on one page, and every part of it comes with a study you can check.
Learn more
Why Most "Hormone Balancing" Supplements Are Marketing
Why Most "Hormone Balancing" Supplements Are Marketing Walk through any supplement aisle or scroll for a few minutes and you'll find the same promise in a dozen forms. Hormone balance. Hormonal harmony. Support for "your cycle," "your adrenals," "your changing body." The packaging is usually calm and botanical. The claims are usually vague. That vagueness isn't an accident, and it's the most useful thing to understand about this category. "Hormone balance" sounds like a specific medical outcome, but it isn't one. It can't be measured, which means it can't be tested, which means a product promising it can never really be shown to fail. This post looks at why the phrase works so well as marketing, what happens when the most popular ingredients are tested against specific symptoms, and how to read these labels with a clearer eye. We're not naming any brands. The issue is the category and the language it runs on, not any one company. "Balance" describes something hormones don't do The first problem is conceptual. The idea of hormonal "balance" suggests a steady, correct level your body should sit at, which supplements can nudge you back toward. Healthy hormones don't work that way. They're supposed to move. Estrogen and progesterone rise and fall across the menstrual cycle in a predictable pattern. Cortisol follows a daily rhythm, peaking shortly after waking and falling through the day. Across the menopause transition, hormone levels fluctuate and then shift to a new pattern. We've covered several of these in earlier posts, including how estrogen changes the body's thirst threshold across the cycle and how SWAN, one of the largest studies of midlife women, tracked cognition through the transition. None of that is imbalance. It's normal physiology. So when a product promises to "balance" hormones, the obvious question is: balance them to what? There's no single target, and the product never says. That's what makes the phrase so commercially useful. It describes a vague sense of things being off, which almost everyone feels at some point, and offers to fix it without ever committing to a result anyone could check. Why the claims stay vague: the legal framework There's also a structural reason the language in this category is so soft, and it comes from how supplements are regulated in the United States. Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, supplements are regulated as a category of food rather than as drugs. They don't need FDA approval before going on sale, and the FDA doesn't evaluate whether they work. Manufacturers can make what are called structure/function claims, statements about how a product affects the body's normal structure or function, as long as they don't claim to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent a disease. Products making these claims carry a standard disclaimer: "This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease." That line is worth reading slowly the next time you see it. It's the manufacturer telling you, in a legally required sentence, that no regulator has checked the claim above it. Phrases like "supports hormonal balance" sit comfortably inside this framework. They describe a function in general terms, avoid naming a disease, and don't need to be backed by the kind of trial a drug would need. That isn't illegal. It's how the system is designed. But it means the confidence of the wording tells you nothing about the strength of the evidence. The clearest example: "adrenal fatigue" If you want to see how a vague hormonal concept can support an entire product category without strong evidence behind it, "adrenal fatigue" is the clearest case. The idea is that chronic stress wears out the adrenal glands, leaving them unable to produce enough cortisol, which supposedly causes tiredness, brain fog, and low mood. A whole range of "adrenal support" supplements is sold on that premise. In 2016, Flavio Cadegiani and Claudio Kater of the Federal University of São Paulo set out to check whether the condition had any scientific basis. Their systematic review, published in BMC Endocrine Disorders, volume 16, article 48, searched PubMed, MEDLINE, and the Cochrane databases through April 2016. From 3,470 articles, 58 studies met their criteria, 33 in healthy people and 25 in people with symptoms. The tests used most often were awakening cortisol, the cortisol awakening response, and salivary cortisol rhythm. They found what they described as an almost systematic pattern of conflicting results across these studies, regardless of how well the tests were validated. Their conclusion was blunt: there is no substantiation that "adrenal fatigue" is an actual medical condition, and adrenal fatigue is still a myth. They also noted that no endocrinology society recognizes it, and that their findings corroborated an existing warning from the Endocrine Society. It's fair to add that some practitioners have pushed back, arguing that stress-related changes in cortisol patterns are worth studying in their own right. That's a reasonable research question. It's also a different claim from the one adrenal support supplements are typically sold on, which is that a recognizable condition exists and a product can fix it. Tiredness, poor concentration, and low mood are real and worth taking seriously. They just have many possible causes, several of which a doctor can actually test for. What happens when ingredients are tested against something specific The vague "balance" claim can't be tested. But many of the ingredients in these products can be, against specific symptoms. The most studied are those aimed at menopausal symptoms, particularly hot flushes, because that's a measurable outcome. Looking at how they perform is revealing. Black cohosh. Black cohosh is one of the most widely used herbs for menopausal symptoms. A Cochrane systematic review by Leach and Moore, published in 2012, pooled 16 randomized trials involving 2,027 women, who took an average of 40 milligrams a day for an average of 23 weeks. For hot flush frequency, there was no significant difference between black cohosh and placebo. The pooled difference was 0.07 flushes per day, with a 95 percent confidence interval of negative 0.43 to 0.56 and a p-value of 0.79, based on three trials with 393 women. There was also no significant difference in menopausal symptom scores. Evidence on safety was inconclusive because of poor reporting. The reviewers concluded there was insufficient evidence to support the use of black cohosh for menopausal symptoms, while noting that the uncertain quality of most studies meant further research was warranted. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements summarizes the review as finding insufficient evidence to either support or oppose its use. It would be unfair to stop there, because other analyses disagree. The Merck Manual describes the evidence on black cohosh as conflicting. It notes a network meta-analysis that found black cohosh reduced vasomotor symptoms compared with placebo, though less effectively than hormonal treatments, and a later meta-analysis of 22 randomized trials with 2,310 women reporting improvements in overall menopausal symptoms, hot flushes, and physical symptoms, but not in depressive or anxiety symptoms. So black cohosh isn't a clean failure. It's an ingredient that has been studied a great deal and still sits at "conflicting," depending on which extract and which analysis you look at. That's a long way from the confidence on the label. Phytoestrogens. Plant compounds with weak estrogen-like activity, found in soy and red clover among other sources, are the other big category. A Cochrane review by Lethaby and colleagues, published in 2013, included 43 randomized trials with 4,084 participants, covering dietary soy, soy extracts, red clover extracts, genistein extracts, and other phytoestrogens. The headline finding was that there was no conclusive evidence that phytoestrogen supplements reduce the frequency or severity of hot flushes and night sweats, with many trials small, short, and of questionable quality. Overall, there was no indication that most types of phytoestrogen worked better than no treatment. There was one specific exception. Four trials, not combined in a meta-analysis, suggested that extracts with high levels of genistein, above 30 milligrams a day, consistently reduced the frequency of hot flushes. The reviewers flagged this as needing further investigation. On safety, they found no evidence of estrogen-like stimulation of the womb lining or vagina, or other adverse effects, with use of up to two years. Notice how specific that one positive signal is: a particular compound, at a particular dose, for a particular symptom. That's the kind of claim that can be checked. "Supports hormonal balance" is not. Magnesium. We covered magnesium and hormonal change in detail in an earlier post. Briefly: a 2025 systematic review in Nutrition Reviews named magnesium among the interventions with insufficient evidence for psychological premenstrual symptoms, and the widely cited positive result for hot flashes came from a small pilot study that shrank in a larger placebo-controlled trial. The pattern across all three is consistent. When the best-known "hormone" ingredients are tested against specific, measurable symptoms, the results range from no effect to conflicting to a narrow signal at a specific dose. That's the honest ceiling of the evidence for the most-studied ingredients in the category. Many of the less-studied ingredients that appear in these blends have their own evidence bases, some better than others, and the right way to judge any of them is the same: against a specific symptom, at the dose that was actually tested. The hidden cost of a vague promise A supplement that doesn't work is a waste of money. A supplement with a vague hormonal promise can carry a less obvious cost. The symptoms these products target, such as tiredness, weight changes, mood shifts, irregular periods, and trouble sleeping, overlap with conditions that a doctor can actually diagnose, often with a straightforward blood test. Thyroid disorders are a common example. If a product reframes those symptoms as a vague "imbalance" that a capsule can address, it can make it easier to put off the appointment that would find the real cause. There's also a practical problem on the label itself. Many hormone-focused products are proprietary blends that list ingredients without disclosing how much of each is included. That makes it impossible to compare the product to the research. The one clear positive signal in the phytoestrogen review applied to genistein above 30 milligrams a day. If a label lists "soy isoflavone blend" without saying how much genistein is in it, you have no way of knowing whether you're anywhere near that threshold. How to read a "hormone" supplement label A few questions cut through most of the marketing in this category. What specific symptom is this for? "Balance," "harmony," and "support" aren't outcomes. If the product can't name what it's meant to change, there's nothing to evaluate. Which ingredient is supposed to do that, and at what dose? Look for single ingredients with disclosed amounts that you can match against published research. Proprietary blends with undisclosed amounts make this impossible. Does the claim rest on a recognized condition? Be wary of products built around concepts like "adrenal fatigue" that the relevant medical specialty doesn't recognize. Does it imply it can replace a diagnosis? If you have symptoms that are persistent or affecting your life, a product that offers to fix them without anyone working out the cause is skipping the most important step. Our own catalog isn't exempt It would be easy to write this post as if it only applied to other companies. It doesn't. We sell shilajit, and the main human evidence on its hormonal effects is a single small randomized trial in men aged 45 to 55, which is how we've described it when we've written about it. We sell a magnesium complex, and our own post on magnesium and hormonal change concluded that the evidence for hormone-specific benefits is weak, with sleep being the more defensible reason to take it. We don't sell anything marketed as a hormone-balancing product, and given everything above, we don't plan to. The standard we'd suggest applying to any brand, including us, is simple: a specific claim, about a specific ingredient, at a specific dose, backed by a specific study you can look up. What's actually worth doing If you're dealing with symptoms you think might be hormonal, a few steps are more useful than any product. See a doctor if symptoms are persistent, new, or affecting your daily life. Many of the conditions behind tiredness, weight changes, mood shifts, or cycle changes can be identified with standard tests, and identifying them is what makes effective treatment possible. For menopausal symptoms in particular, there are evidence-based options with far stronger research behind them than the supplements above. What's appropriate for you depends on your health history, so it's a conversation for a clinician rather than something to decide from a label or a blog post. And don't underestimate the basics. Sleep, stress, and physical activity affect how you feel through every hormonal stage, and they're the foundation that anything else builds on. The honest summary "Hormone balancing" is marketing language because it describes something hormones don't do. Healthy hormones are meant to fluctuate across the cycle, the day, and the decades, so a promise to "balance" them never has to say what the target is. US supplement law allows broad structure/function claims without FDA review, as long as products carry a disclaimer saying no regulator has evaluated them, and vague hormonal wording fits that framework easily. When the concept is tested directly, it often doesn't hold. A 2016 systematic review of 58 studies concluded that "adrenal fatigue" has no substantiation as a medical condition. When the most popular ingredients are tested against specific symptoms, the results are underwhelming: a 2012 Cochrane review found no significant difference between black cohosh and placebo for hot flushes, though other analyses are more positive and the overall evidence is best described as conflicting. A 2013 Cochrane review of 43 trials found no conclusive evidence that phytoestrogens reduce hot flushes, with one narrow exception for high-dose genistein above 30 milligrams a day. None of that means every ingredient in these products is useless. It means the useful questions are specific ones: which symptom, which ingredient, what dose, and what study. A label that can't answer them is selling a feeling, not a result.
Learn more
Skin Changes in Your 40s: What Nutrition Can and Can't Address
Skin Changes in Your 40s: What Nutrition Can and Can't Address Somewhere in your 40s, skin often starts behaving differently. It gets drier. It feels thinner. Lines that used to fade by lunchtime stay put. And right on cue, the marketing arrives: collagen powders, "beauty from within" capsules, antioxidant blends promising to turn back the clock from the inside. Some of that has a basis in real biology. A lot of it doesn't, and the research on this is unusually clear in places. The honest picture is that the biggest drivers of skin aging in this decade are hormonal change and sun exposure, and nutrition has limited reach over either. What diet can influence is real but narrower than the products suggest. This post separates the two, with the studies behind each claim. What's actually changing Two broad processes drive skin aging. Intrinsic aging is the internal, largely programmed part, which in women is heavily shaped by hormones. Extrinsic aging comes from outside, and the dominant factor there is ultraviolet light. The hormonal part. Estrogen supports the cells in the skin that make collagen, so when estrogen falls, collagen production falls with it. The most frequently cited data here comes from work by Brincat and colleagues in the 1980s. A 2007 review by Stevenson and Thornton in Clinical Interventions in Aging summarizes it: in postmenopausal women, skin thickness decreases by about 1.13 percent per postmenopausal year, with collagen content falling about 2 percent per postmenopausal year. The review also notes that collagen types I and III are thought to decrease by as much as 30 percent in the first five years after menopause. Two details in that summary matter. First, the decline in skin thickness and collagen appeared to track the length of estrogen deficiency more closely than chronological age. Two women of the same age can be in very different places depending on where they are in the menopause transition. Second, notice the phrasing: "thought to decrease by as much as." The 30 percent figure is now everywhere, sometimes under the name "collagen cliff," but it comes from small biopsy studies from several decades ago and is an upper estimate rather than a typical outcome. It's real research. It's also older and less precise than its popularity suggests. For most women, the 40s are the perimenopausal years, and menopause itself comes around age 51 on average. So the steepest part of this hormonal decline usually arrives a bit later. The 40s are when it starts. The sun part. This is where the strongest intervention evidence in the whole field sits, and it isn't a nutrient. The Nambour trial, published by Hughes, Williams, Baker, and Green in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2013, volume 158, pages 781 to 790, randomized 903 adults younger than 55 in Nambour, Australia. Participants were assigned to daily or discretionary use of a broad-spectrum sunscreen, and separately to 30 milligrams of beta-carotene or a placebo. Assessors who didn't know who was in which group graded changes in skin microtopography over four and a half years. The daily sunscreen group showed no detectable increase in skin aging over that period. Skin aging was 24 percent less in the daily sunscreen group than in the discretionary group, with a relative odds of 0.76 and a 95 percent confidence interval of 0.59 to 0.98. The authors concluded that regular sunscreen use retards skin aging in healthy, middle-aged men and women. Hold onto the beta-carotene arm. We'll come back to it. What nutrition can't address This is the part most "beauty from within" marketing skips, so it's worth being direct about it. It can't replace estrogen. The collagen loss described above is driven by falling estrogen signalling to the cells that build collagen. No food or supplement replicates that signal. Eating well supports the raw materials your skin uses, but it doesn't restore the hormonal instruction to use them at the same rate. Hormone therapy is a separate medical decision with its own evidence and risks, and it belongs in a conversation with a clinician rather than a supplement brand's blog, so we're leaving it there. It can't undo sun damage, and the best trial on this says so. Back to Nambour. The same randomized trial that showed sunscreen working also tested a nutritional antioxidant against placebo. Beta-carotene supplementation had no overall effect on skin aging. The authors noted contrasting associations in subgroups with different levels of aging at the start, and said further study would be needed to definitively rule out either benefit or harm. But in a well-designed trial lasting four and a half years, the topical intervention worked and the nutritional one didn't. That's about as clean a comparison as this field offers. Collagen supplements: the evidence is weaker than it looks. Collagen powders are the most heavily marketed nutrition product for aging skin, and for a while the research seemed encouraging. Several meta-analyses pooled randomized trials and found improvements in skin hydration and elasticity. A 2023 meta-analysis of 26 randomized controlled trials, for example, concluded that hydrolyzed collagen can have positive effects on skin health, while calling for larger trials. Then a 2025 meta-analysis asked a question the earlier ones hadn't. Myung and Park, publishing in the American Journal of Medicine, volume 138, pages 1264 to 1277, analyzed 23 randomized trials with 1,474 participants, and the study itself received no funding. Pooling all 23, collagen supplements significantly improved skin hydration, elasticity, and wrinkles. But when the authors split the trials by funding source, the studies that did not receive funding from pharmaceutical or supplement companies showed no effect on hydration, elasticity, or wrinkles, while the funded studies did show significant effects. Splitting by methodological quality gave a similar picture: high-quality studies showed no significant effect in any category, while low-quality studies showed a significant improvement in elasticity. That's a striking result, and it's fair to report the response to it as well. Industry representatives pushed back, arguing that industry-funded studies aren't necessarily lower quality, and pointing out that most of the industry-funded trials in the analysis scored reasonably well on a standard quality scale. A 2026 narrative review in Applied Sciences took a middle position: it described collagen at 2.5 to 10 grams a day for at least 8 to 12 weeks as associated with improved hydration, elasticity, and wrinkle depth, while stating that results are inconsistent and that the effect is markedly weaker or not statistically significant in the highest-quality studies and those independent of industry support. The fair summary: the case for collagen supplements improving aging skin is real enough to have been studied seriously, and fragile enough that it largely disappears when you look only at the strongest and most independent trials. We should be upfront about why this matters to us. Our protein blend is majority hydrolyzed collagen. Given this evidence, we're not going to tell you it will reverse skin aging. If you take it, take it as a protein source, not as a wrinkle treatment. What nutrition can plausibly influence None of this means diet is irrelevant to skin. It means the realistic claims are more modest and more general than a single product can offer. Overall dietary pattern shows up in the data. The most relevant study for this age group comes from Cosgrove and colleagues, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2007, volume 86, pages 1225 to 1231. Using data from the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, they examined 4,025 women aged 40 to 74. Nutrient intake was estimated from 24-hour recall, and dermatologists examined each woman's skin for wrinkled appearance, age-related dryness, and skin thinning. Higher intakes of vitamin C and linoleic acid, and lower intakes of fat and carbohydrate, were associated with better skin-aging appearance, independent of other factors known to affect skin aging. A 50-gram increase in carbohydrate intake was associated with higher odds of a wrinkled appearance, with an odds ratio of 1.36. Higher fat intake was also associated with greater likelihood of a wrinkled appearance. Higher linoleic acid intake was associated with a lower likelihood of age-related dryness, with an odds ratio of 0.75, and with a lower likelihood of skin thinning. The caveats are important. This was a cross-sectional study, meaning it measured diet and skin at one point in time. It shows association, not cause. A single 24-hour diet recall is a rough snapshot of what someone usually eats. And women who eat more fruit and vegetables may differ in many other ways, such as sun habits, that the analysis may not fully capture. It's useful evidence that diet and skin appearance travel together. It isn't proof that changing one item on your plate will change your skin. Vitamin C is a genuine requirement. Vitamin C is a required cofactor for the enzymes that build and stabilize collagen. That's basic biochemistry, not marketing, and it's why severe deficiency affects skin and connective tissue. What it supports is getting enough. It doesn't mean that taking more than you need makes your skin build extra collagen, and there isn't good evidence that it does. For most people, a diet with regular fruit and vegetables covers it. Protein matters as a building block. Collagen is a protein, so skin needs adequate dietary protein to maintain it. In the Cosgrove data, women with a wrinkled appearance had lower protein intakes than women without one, though that's an unadjusted comparison and shouldn't be over-read. We've written about protein needs after 40 separately. The relevant point here is that getting enough protein overall supports skin as part of supporting the whole body. Linoleic acid is an essential fat with a skin role. Linoleic acid is an essential omega-6 fatty acid that the body uses in the lipids that make up the skin's barrier. Its association with less dryness in the Cosgrove study fits that role. It's found in many nuts, seeds, and plant oils. Again, the point is adequacy as part of a varied diet, not megadosing. Put simply, nutrition looks most useful for making sure your skin isn't short of what it needs. That's genuinely worth doing. It's also a different promise from reversing the changes driven by hormones and sun. Where topical care fits, including ours The changes people notice most in their 40s aren't all in the deeper layers of the skin. Dryness and a rougher surface happen at the outer barrier, and that's a place where what you put on your skin can make a measurable difference. We covered this in detail in our post on tallow balm and hydration. Moisturizers work by reducing water loss through the skin's surface, through occlusive and emollient effects. Tallow-based products sit in the emollient category, integrating into the outer layer's lipids and helping with dryness and texture. The honest limit is the same one that applies to collagen powders, from the other direction. A moisturizer, including ours, works on the surface. It can make dry skin feel and look better and support the outer barrier. It doesn't rebuild collagen in the deeper layers or reverse wrinkles caused by collagen loss. We'd rather you buy a balm for what it does than expect it to do something it can't. And for sun protection, use a tested, broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF rating and a Drug Facts label. Our Sun Balm is not one, and we've said so directly before. The Nambour results came from daily use of a proper broad-spectrum sunscreen, and that's the product category the evidence supports. What's actually worth doing Based on the research above, the priorities line up in a fairly clear order. Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen every day on exposed skin. It's the intervention with the strongest randomized evidence for slowing visible skin aging, and in the Nambour trial it outperformed the nutritional antioxidant tested alongside it. Eat a varied diet with enough vitamin C, protein, and essential fats. The evidence supports this as a way of not shortchanging your skin, consistent with what Cosgrove and colleagues found in women aged 40 to 74. Moisturize for dryness. It works at the surface, where a lot of what people notice in their 40s actually happens. Be skeptical of products promising to reverse skin aging from the inside. The best-known category, collagen supplements, shows effects that mostly vanish in the highest-quality and most independent trials. If you want to address changes that go deeper, a dermatologist can walk you through evidence-based topical treatments. Hormone-related questions belong with your doctor. The honest summary The skin changes many women notice in their 40s are driven largely by two things nutrition can't reverse. Falling estrogen reduces collagen production, with older biopsy studies estimating losses of about 2 percent per postmenopausal year and as much as 30 percent in the first five years after menopause. And sun exposure drives visible aging, which daily broad-spectrum sunscreen reduced by 24 percent in a randomized trial of 903 adults. That same trial found no overall effect from a beta-carotene supplement. A 2025 meta-analysis of 23 trials found that collagen supplements' apparent benefits for skin largely disappeared in high-quality studies and in studies not funded by industry, though the industry disputes that interpretation. What nutrition can do is narrower and still worthwhile: provide the vitamin C, protein, and essential fats skin needs, as part of an overall dietary pattern that, in a large study of middle-aged women, was associated with better skin-aging appearance. That's a smaller promise than most skin supplements make. It's also one the evidence actually supports.
Learn more