More evidence suggests soy isoflavones help hot flashes
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By David Liu, Ph.D.
Tuesday AUg 9, 2011 (foodconsumer.org) -- A recent U.S. trial found no effect of soy isoflavones on hot flashes or otherwise known as hot flushes in menopausal women while another recent study conducted in Brazil found soy isoflavones helped relieve menopausal symptoms very effectively.
Silvina Levis and colleagues of Miami Veterans Affairs Healthcare System gave about 200 women aged 45 to 60 200 mg per day of soy isoflavone supplements, which are assumed to be the active ingredient in soybeans in relieving menopausal symptoms, for two years.
The authors found those who used soy supplements were actually more likely to suffer hot flashes, compared to the controls.
The study was published in the Aug 8, 2011 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
However, another recent study published in Nov 2010 in Maturitas showed that taking 90 mg of soy isoflavones for weeks reduced hot flashes by almost 50 percent, an efficacy similar to that of the common hormone therapy indicated for treating hot flashes in menopausal women.
The authors of the study L.O. Carmignani of the State University of Campinas in Campinas, SP, Brazil also found that soy supplements were able to reduce urogenital symptoms like vaginal dryness by more than 30 percent.
A second foreign study, conducted by researchers in Ecuador, also found that taking soy isoflavone supplements for three months reduced the number of hot flash episodes and severity and improved mood.
This study led by Chedraui P and colleagues of Instituto para La Salud de La Mujer in Guayaquil was published in the May 2011 issue of Gynecological Endocrinology.
Isoflavones are phytochemicals that have estrogenic properties. Because estrogen therapy is known to boost risk of breast cancer and heart disease, the phytoestrogenic compounds are believed to be safe alternatives to the estrogen therapy.
Apparently not all studies are consistent.
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