Chasteberry / Vitex

What Is Chasteberry?

Chasteberry is the dried fruit of Vitex agnus-castus, a shrub of the Mediterranean coast with long spikes of violet flowers. The berries are dark, hard and about the size of a peppercorn. Medieval monks ground them like pepper, which is where the name monk's pepper comes from.

How It Works in the Body

Vitex is a traditional herb, so the plain account is what the fruit is made of. Its markers are iridoid glycosides — agnuside and aucubin — with flavonoids such as casticin and vitexin, labdane diterpenes and an aromatic oil. The extract here is standardized for agnuside.

The second herb is dong quai, the root of Angelica sinensis and a garden relative of celery. It carries phthalides such as ligustilide, along with ferulic acid and coumarins.

What It Supports

• The monthly cycle: Vitex is the classic women's herb of European practice, taken to support the monthly cycle.
• The midlife years: Both herbs have a long place in traditional practice through the years around menopause.
• A women's tonic: Dang gui is the root Chinese herbal medicine turns to for women, and it is the second herb here.
• Marker compounds: Agnuside and ligustilide are what each herb is measured by.

Who It May Suit

It is made for women who prefer a traditional herbal pairing to a nutrient formula, whether in their cycling years or later. The capsule is plant cellulose, so it fits vegetarian and vegan eating.

Good To Know

The berry tastes sharp and peppery; the root is sweet and faintly like celery. Talk with your healthcare provider before use if you take a blood thinner or an antiplatelet medication, since dong quai carries coumarins, and do not use either herb if you are pregnant or nursing. Dong quai can also make skin more sensitive to sun.