The Things To Know About Soy Products For Menopause Relief

By Nick Lambert


Over the past years, there has been popular belief that the use of soy and its constituent products goes a long way in treating several diseases for example the heart disease, osteoporosis as well as cancer-related illnesses. Inasmuch as this may be true, the norm that soy and its products reduces the effects of menopausal symptoms is not validated, neither is it factual. There are many forms of soy, for instance soy milk, soy cheese, soy meat and soy beans, among others. There has also been emergence of powdered soy as well as soy for menopause relief, as produced by some companies.

Soy has high contents of isoflavones. These are types of phytoestrogen. Phytoestrogens are basically chemicals found in plants that work similarly like estrogens. To some extent, the human body can alternatively use them just like estrogens.



Hitherto, there has been alternative ways of treating women in menopausal, for example by dint of conventional medicines, but in the recent past, the use of natural approaches to relieve discomforts associated with menopausal has become exceedingly popular. This has since prompted the foods and supplement industries to make alternatives to the traditional conventional pharmaceutical estrogens like Premarin. In consequence, the soy foods industry has benefited most from this quest for natural solutions for menopausal, arguably because of soys high content of phytoestrogen.

The message that soy phytoestrogens act in similar capacity as surrogate estrogens has been widely spread, and this thereby gives women the general impression that they can alternatively prefer soy products to relieve symptoms of dwindling estrogen levels at their menopausal stage, albeit naturally. However, the research does not confirm that isoflavones act as estrogens, and therefore the conclusion that they are all a woman needs to alleviate her menopausal symptoms, cannot be completely validated.

It is important to note that soy phytoestrogens have minimal impact on vasomotor symptoms like night sweats, vaginal dryness and hot flashes. Studies relieved that women who made use of soy products that are phytoestrogen-rich realized a thirty five to fifty percent decrease in the intensity of their hot flashes.

Recent studies reveal that the use of soy foods does not completely eradicate discomforts of menopause or menopausal symptoms, and instead, the isoflavones contained in them act as goitrogens, and hence suppress ones thyroid functions. Suppression of the thyroid further leads to other health disorders like difficulties in losing weight, hardships in losing weight, insomnia, mood swings and general anxiety, digestive problems and food allergies, among many others.

New studies however reveal that the consumption of soy products does not effectively hot flashes, bone loss and other uncomfortable symptoms associated with menopause. Isoflavones, hormonal mimics, instead disrupt the delicate hormonal systems in the body and also act as goitrogens- substances that end up suppressing the thyroid function.

This further causes several disorders like insomnia, anxiety, mood swings, digestive problems and other food allergies. The most harmful forms of soya are argued to be infant soy formula and soy protein powders. In conclusion, it is clear that though soy products can play some part in alleviating discomforts associated with menopause, it has not been confirmed that they are completely effective.




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