Crystal Star was founded by Dr. Linda Page who is a traditional naturopath and a herbalist. She, along with Crystal Star, created six patented herbal supplements amongst which Female Harmony is one of the top sellers. Female Harmony is an herb-based PMS support supplement for reducing symptoms, balancing hormones, and regulating the menstrual cycle. The supplement is made with a blend of 24 herbs taken from roots, flowers, leaves, seeds, berries, and bark.
Female Harmony is vegetarian friendly and a non-GMO product, which is produced in an FDA regulated facility in the United States that is GMP certified. This is important because the GMP certification means that the manufacturer meets high standards for production and ingredient purity. If you’re looking for a quality supplement, you want it to come from a manufacturer that can be trusted.
The facility may be approved by the FDA but the FDA does not approve any dietary supplements. Just because something comes from an FDA approved site does not mean that the product is FDA approved. Each manufacturer or distributor is responsible for making sure that their product is safe and effective. Let’s take a look at Female Harmony to judge it for ourselves.
Is Crystal Star Female Harmony Effective?
The featured ingredients in Female Harmony are dong quai root, damiana leaf, burdock root, and jiaogulan leaf. Crystal Star has a list on their website describing the purposes of these ingredients. The dong quai is said to balance hormones and reduce discomfort. Damiana Leaf targets anxiety, muscle aches, insomnia, headaches, and fatigue. Burdock root is added for encouraging healthy liver function and hormone metabolism. Jiaogulan leaf is for boosting energy and helping the body adapt to stress.
Unfortunately, Dong quai does not have sufficient research to support its validity as a reducer of PMS symptoms. Furthermore, it increases sensitivity to sunlight which can lead to sunburns, which are a precursor to skin disease. It is also an anticoagulant that cannot be taken during pregnancy or nursing and may interfere with thyroid medication. Based on this and the fact that an effective PMS supplement can be made without dong quai, we think Female Harmony should have stayed away from including this ingredient.
Damiana leaf, also known as turnera aphrodisiaca, is listed in the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia for its anti-anxiety properties and hawthorn berry may also reduce anxiety, but further research is needed. Burdock has been found to remove toxins from the bloodstream. Additionally, it has been shown to be full of antioxidants which help protect the body against damage from free radicals. Ginger, fennel, chamomile, sarsaparilla, and possibly rehmannia root all facilitate PMS pain reduction. Rose hips reduce water retention, increase immune function, and may decrease the likelihood of diarrhea. Chamomile’s antispasmodic properties, white peony, yellow dock, red raspberry, and rosemary work to stop abdominal cramps and cramp pain. In order to address hormone imbalances, Female Harmony includes dulse which contains iodine which is needed for producing thyroid hormones, licorice for raising progesterone (though it’s not proven that progesterone levels affect PMS), and Maca which helps balance hormones.
All that said, the ingredients are lumped together into a proprietary blend that does not list the amount of each ingredient. We believe in transparency, and while Crystal Star lists their ingredients we wish they also listed the percentage of each quantity that they used. Our bodies are so complex that everything we consume can have an effect on us. It’s important to know what and how much of each ingredient a supplement has in it, so that we can determine what may be missing or what may need to be avoided.
Female Harmony is almost entirely composed of a patented herb blend so it can be expected to work, at least to some degree. The reviews were mainly positive but there were some people who didn’t see any results. It’s important to remember that each body is different and supplements can affect each person differently. Crystal Star has a 60-day 100% money-back customer satisfaction guarantee which is something that we like to see because it shows the manufacturer’s confidence that their product will be effective.
Is Crystal Star Female Harmony Safe?
Female Harmony should be safe for most people, though we do recommend consulting your doctor before taking a new supplement. We have found some Female Harmony bottles with a Reproductive Harm warning for California residents. However, this seems to be a precautionary measure against lawsuits rather than a real concern of the manufacturer. Since harmful metals are found in dirt around the world, there is a chance that the herbs used were exposed to those metals during the growing process. Despite the warning, Crystal Star claims that their products are held to a strict, high standard for safety beyond FDA requirements.
The only concern with this supplement is the inclusion of dong quai. As previously stated, dong quai increases sensitivity to sunlight which can lead to sunburns which are a precursor of skin disease. It also may have anticoagulant properties and cannot be taken during pregnancy or nursing and may interfere with thyroid medication. It also should not be taken before surgery or by people with bleeding disorders. As always, dosage and potency are important factors but Crystal Star does not provide this information to Female Harmony users.
It should also be noted that some labels of Female Harmony state that the product should not be used under the age of 18.
Summary
Our final say is that this is a high quality product that should offer results. It didn’t earn a spot as our #1 pick due to having less transparency than Approved Science, and because the manufacturer chose to include dong quai. This ingredient still requires more thorough scientific research to validate it’s usage in PMS symptom relief, cannot be used by a number of the population, and may cause potentially harmful side effects. Though reviewers claim to have seen results, we would have liked to see the inclusion of a bioavailability-increasing agent such as BioPerine® so that the body can absorb the maximum amount of benefits from Female Harmony. If you would like to take a chance with Female Harmony, Crystal Star does have a 60-day money-back guarantee. Lastly, since some labels state that Female Harmony shouldn’t be taken under the age of 18 and the average age of starting menstrual periods is 12 years old, we thought that a product for a wider audience of any age deserved our top spot.
