Soy Provides No Help for Symptoms and Perils of Menopause

Not so good news for the millions of women who suffer from the ill effects of menopause. A new study from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine finds that soy supplements do nothing to alleviate menopausal symptoms, nor do they help protect against bone loss.

Although taking soy supplements has become one of the more popular alternatives to much debated hormone replacement therapy (HRT), the new findings leave little hope for women who have turned to the supplements to battle the seemingly endless hotflashes, night sweats, insomnia and vaginal dryness. Soy has long been considered a safer method for targeting the discomforts of menopause than HRT because of it’s naturally occuring isoflavones (plant-based estrogens).

In addition, previous research has shown that Asian women with diets high in soy have less likelihood of suffering bone loss, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease than do women living in Western countries. However, until now, studies involving the use of soy have been small in size, short in duration, and often flawed in design.

The latest results were based on a double-blind study led by Dr. Silvina Levis, the University’s director of the Osteoporosis Center, that involved 248 women ranging in age from 45 to 60 years who were randomly assigned to take either 200 mg of soy isoflavones or a placebo. All of the women were within five years of the onset of menopause.The daily soy dose was determined to be the equivelent of about twice the amount found in the average Asian diet.

The research team measured the women’s bone mineral density at the hip and spine using bone scans. Although no differences in density were noted between the soy and placebo groups by the end of the study, both groups suffered small amounts of bone loss.

More about the study on page 2