Soy and Menopause

If you are a woman over 40, you are most likely concerned about how to combat the symptoms of menopause.

They can be very uncomfortable , and include hot flashes, menstrual irregularities, vaginal dryness, baldness, wrinkles, memory loss, and insomnia. Estrogen replacement therapy, which many women choose to relieve these symptoms, can cause dangerous side effects such as ovarian and breast cancer. How grateful we are that there may be natural solution to these symptoms---soy.

What Soy Can Do for You

Why is it that while 85% of North American women complain of hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms, less that 25% of Japanese menopausal women report such discomfort? Scientists suspect that the eastern diet, high in soy, may be the main contributing factor.

Hot flashes, the most common symptom of menopause, can occur night and day, and intensity varies form woman to woman. One study showed that menopausal women who supplemented their diet with 60 grams of soy protein daily for 12 weeks significantly reduced the number of hot flashes the women experienced. By the last week of the study, women eating soy experienced 45% fewer hot flashes daily. Several studies in countries throughout the world have supported this result.

Although ad decrease in estrogen is typically associated with the symptoms of menopause, in some cases it is an excess of estrogen that may initiate these symptoms. Fat cells encourage the production of extra estrogen, which is regulated by a biochemical feedback mechanism in premenopausal women. After menopause, whoever, this mechanism becomes less effective, allowing dangerous levels of estrogen to be produced. This excess of potent estrogen may be the reason the risk of breast cancer nearly doubles after menopause.

Research indicates an association between soy and the reduction of fat cells in the body. In a study of 51 postmenopausal women, researchers gave soy supplements rich in isoflavones to half of the women, while the rest of them consumed a placebo supplement. Those who ate soy experienced lower blood pressure, which resulted in healthier blood lipoprotein levels, indicating the presence of fewer fat cells in the body.

During menopause, the vaginal walls slowly become thinner, drier, and more fragile, making the vagina more prone to irritation. Soy has also been found to alleviate this painful symptom, In 1990, a study done on 23 American postmenopausal women showed that a diet high in soy food reversed the unpleasant changes in the vagina due to menopause. Fortunately, these encouraging results were achieved without the accompanying detrimental effects of hormone replacement therapy.

How It Works

Most menopausal symptoms are due to a drop in the production of estrogen.

Estrogen is a hormone that delivers chemical messages to cells in the body by binding as n estrogen molecule to an estrogen receptor. This connection then tells the cell to grow, divide or perform other vital functions. During menopause, estrogen production is insufficient for the body to regulate its productive system properly, but soy, with its isoflavones, also called phytoestrogens (plant protein), can balance this drop in naturally produced estrogen.

These phytoestrogens, genistein  and daidzein, perform both estrogenic and antiestrogenic activities, which can prevent  cancer in men and women. Isoflavones act as antiestrogens when there are excessively high levels of naturally produced estrogen. As women age, the biochemical feedback mechanism that normally regulates estrogen production becomes weaker and can allow too much estrogen to be produced, which can cause cancer in the reproductive system. Because they are different from estrogen, isoflavones bind to estrogen receptors provoking a weaker estrogenic response. This may help prevent breast cancer, endometrial cancer, and other cancers that tend to increase after menopause.

A Brighter Future for Women

More research is being done every year to discover just why women suffer from the painful symptoms that can accompany menopause. It seems that a delicate balance must be maintained in women's systems to keep estrogen-related functions working well. Soy's phytoestrogens may just be the key to making the post-menopuase years some of the very best.