Study Shows Diet Causes 84% Drop in Troublesome Menopausal Symptoms—without Drugs

[Vegandiva]

I was listening to some podcasts about this study and it sounded like it would be a much better alternative than HRT. The study came about because after reading a book which outlined these general principles, one woman tried adding half a cup of soybeans to a low fat, whole foods plant based diet and she said she pretty much eliminated her hot flashes within 5 days! I don’t get them as I am in perimenopause but it seems worthwhile to try the diet now for all the other benefits and to set myself up for a better menopause (full disclosure in case you couldn’t tell from my username, I’m vegan but not super healthy like that, hee hee). I think it would also help with PMDD / PMS, general brain fog and cramps.

Here is the text from the press release, I’ll link to it which contains the full study at the end and the link to the podcasts about it if anyone is interested 🙂

WASHINGTON—A new study, published by the North American Menopause Society in the journal Menopause, found a plant-based diet rich in soy reduces moderate-to-severe hot flashes by 84%, from nearly five per day to fewer than one per day. During the 12-week study, nearly 60% of women became totally free of moderate-to-severe hot flashes. Overall hot flashes (including mild ones) decreased by 79%.

The study, called the WAVS trial—the Women’s Study for the Alleviation of Vasomotor Symptoms–shows that diet changes can be much more powerful for treating hot flashes than scientists had thought. Vasomotor symptoms refer to night sweats, hot flashes, and flushes.
The study used no hormone medications or extracts. Instead, the research team tested a combination of a low-fat plant-based diet plus 1/2 cup of ordinary soybeans added to a salad or soup each day.
“This is a game changer for women aged 45 and over, most of whom we now know can get prompt relief from the most severe and troubling menopause symptoms without drugs,” says lead researcher Neal Barnard, MD, president of the Physicians Committee and adjunct professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine.
As many as 80% of postmenopausal women suffer from hot flashes. Heat wells up from the chest, causing flushing, sweating, and chills. At night, hot flashes interfere with sleep. Estrogen-based medications were once routinely used to treat hot flashes but have been shown to increase the risk of breast cancer and other serious problems. Isoflavone extracts from soybeans work only modestly, leaving women and their doctors with few effective options.
Study DetailsPostmenopausal women reporting two or more hot flashes per day were randomly assigned to either an intervention group—consisting of a low-fat, vegan diet, including half a cup of cooked soybeans daily—or to a control group that made no diet changes for 12 weeks. Frequency and severity of hot flashes were recorded using a mobile application, and vasomotor, psychosocial, physical, and sexual symptoms were assessed using the Menopause Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL).
Each participant was given a digital self-calibrating scale to track body weight day by day, a mobile app to track hot flashes in real time, and an Instant Pot to prepare soybeans at home. Each week, the group got together with the research team via Zoom.
“Previous studies have shown that soy could be beneficial, so we decided to put a diet change to the test,” says study author Hana Kahleova, MD, PhD, director of clinical research for the Physicians Committee. “We believe that the combination is what is important. By the end of the study, the majority of women on a plant-based diet rich in soy reported that they no longer experienced moderate-to-extreme hot flashes at all and that they experienced significant improvements in their quality of life.”
Key Findings
Total hot flashes decreased by 79% and moderate-to-severe hot flashes decreased by 84% in the intervention group. At the study’s conclusion, 59% of intervention-group participants reported becoming free of moderate and severe hot flashes. There was no change in this variable in the control group.
In previous randomized trials, soy products have been shown to modestly reduce the frequency of hot flashes. The researchers theorize that the effect may be a result of soy products containing isoflavones, which can be metabolized by gut bacteria into equol—a nonsteroidal compound that has been shown in some studies to reduce the incidence and severity of hot flashes. Previous studies have also shown that those following vegetarian or vegan diets produce higher levels of equol. The new study showed a more robust response, using the combination of a plant-based diet plus soy.
Many study participants also reported improvements in sexual symptoms, mood, and overall energy.
“This was basically a lifesaver for me,” said one study participant. “I’ve got my quality of life back.” Another said, “I am sleeping better, and my hot flashes diminished tremendously.” Several participants also noticed significant weight loss and better digestion.
“Before you jump to any kind of medication, I would try this route, because it’s easy,” a study participant said. “Anybody can do it.”
The study was based on the new approach to menopausal symptoms described by Dr. Barnard in his book Your Body in Balance. After the book was released in 2020, a reader contacted Dr. Barnard to let him know that his method eliminated her hot flashes within five days. Rather than using isoflavone extracts or soy foods such as soy milk or tofu, she used whole soybeans.

https://www.pcrm.org/news/news-releases/study-shows-diet-causes-84-drop-troublesome-menopausal-symptoms-without-drugs

Podcast series where they also interviewed three of the study participants:

https://www.pcrm.org/news/exam-room-podcast/huge-relief-hot-flashes-menopause-series-pt-1-3

i've followed dr. mary claire haver for a few years and she says similar.
she calls it the galveston diet.

Soy can help alleviate symptoms but it does not replace Oestrogen. HRT is designed to replace naturally diminishing hormones which could have health benefits for women in the longer term. Hot flashes are not the only symptom of menopause and many women do not have those symptoms. If you are about to go into menopause/ reading up before you get there, you’ll find it is a very personal journey and no two women are alike. Obviously diet plays a part in everyone’s health but in this case, increasing soy consumption is I’m sure a great complimentary therapy but will not replace the potential benefits of a prescription oestrogen replacement.

Thanks for sharing this, these sort of things are really useful for those of us who can't or don't want to take HRT. There's been a lot of confusion about soy products as well, and obviously the ultra processed soya isn't great, but I eat tempeh sometimes or just the edamame beans as part of a plant-based diet.

It has been known for a long time that traditional soy products (eg tofu, tempeh, nato, rather than TVP) are extremely beneficial for women's health. Unfortunately there is no evidence AFAIK that they are anywhere near as effective as HRT at preventing osteoporosis.

Hot flushes, anxiety and mood swings are hideous. But they're not likely to cause you physical harm - osteoporosis is. Especially if you have an early menopause.

So I'm sticking with HRT plus soya.

It's been known for around 20 years or more that soy (phytoestrogens) can help relieve some menopausal symptoms, to a degree.

However, the amount needed is usually beyond what we'd normally eat, some women can't eat beans or bean products (trigger IBS) and IF soy works, as it promotes estrogen, it's a risk for women with breast cancer and can work in the same way as any estrogen.

As a general point, a really healthy diet with pulses, lots of veg and fruit, and very little sugar or processed food, all helps, as does being a healthy weight.

Here's an article from Memorial Sloan Kettering cancer centre in the US, a centre of excellence, about soy and breast cancer www.mskcc.org/news/does-eating-soy-increase-estrogen-and-cause-breast

Although there are phytoestrogens in soy, my understanding is that they replace the stronger oestridiol that our own bodies produce on the oestrogen receptors in our bodies, so they are not adding to oestrogen, they're taking away, which it is theorised is why Asian women who have eaten soy from a young age are less likely to get oestrogen-positive cancers.

, my understanding is that they replace the stronger oestridiol that our own bodies produce on the oestrogen receptors in our bodies

I will read your link :)

I thought that estrogen receptors were cells that needed estrogen to function . In the uterus there are estrogen receptors that respond to estrogen (and the lining grows) and then progesterone stops the growth.

Asa by the way, the theory about Asian women and soy is part of a much bigger picture of diet. Large consumption of soy usually goes hand in had with a diet high in other vegetables as well as fish. So not only do some Asian families eat less red meat, they also eat more fish and vegetables. It's very hard to isolate soy by itself as the reason.

Thats interesting, thanks @Vegandiva

Yes Jingling oestrogen binds to oestrogen receptors, but the theory is that the weaker phytooestrogens replace our own stronger oestrogen on those receptors rather than add to it, meaning that there's a weaker effect of oestrogen on our bodies. I looked into this a lot because I had an oestrogen-receptive endometrial cancer, but this seems to be the consensus.

@Netaporter according to Dr. Barnard who designed and ran the study with his colleagues, the key to the dramatic reduction in symptoms is to combine the half cup of soy beans per day WITH the low fat plant based whole foods diet. He said neither alone would have such an astonishingly quick effect.

@Vegandiva it is without question an interesting study, but as @Aparecium points out, no amount of soy consumption will counter the effects of osteoporosis - which is the main reason I decided to take HRT. Hot flushes were not my main concern entering the menopause, there are many other health factors to consider.

There has been a lot of misinformation spread about soy, which is addressed in Part 2 of the podcast series I mentioned.

https://www.pcrm.org/news/exam-room-podcast/fact-and-fiction-whole-soy-story-menopause-series-pt-2-3

I totally agree with you about diet. My PMS and cramps are noticeably worse if I have had a bad diet that month. I believe elsewhere it was explained in the book Your Body In Balance that the importance of the low fat diet and keeping a lower weight was that fat molecules increase estrogen, so if you are creating more of them that throws off the hormone balance and then it turn it could create a bigger more dramatic effect at the menopause.

@Aparecium @Netaporter

From what I have read, osteoporosis is correlated with consuming animal products, especially dairy, since it contains excessive amounts of protein, hormones and so on which cancels out any calcium benefit and then some. I believe there were some very interesting studies where after the war when dairy products were re introduced in western countries, osteoporosis levels shot up.

https://www.pcrm.org/news/health-nutrition/plant-based-diets-reduce-risk-osteoporosis-older-adults

That being the case, the healthy low fat plant based diet not the soy, along with exercise and getting enough calcium and vitamin D are what can combat osteoporosis.

https://www.pcrm.org/good-nutrition/nutrition-information/health-concerns-about-dairy/calcium-and-strong-bones

I appreciate and find so interesting all of the women sharing their stories on here and elsewhere about how HRT has helped them, but if HRT is potentially mostly combatting the effects of a profoundly unhealthy diet, which will still also keep causing havoc in other parts of the brain and body it seems to me we owe it to ourselves to start there before consuming artificial hormones. And I am right there with everyone else in needing to improve my diet and lifestyle.

Thank you for the reminder about osteoporosis, I need all the motivation I can get! ✨💐✨

From what I have read, osteoporosis is correlated with consuming animal products, especially dairy, since it contains excessive amounts of protein, hormones and so on which cancels out any calcium benefit and then some. I believe there were some very interesting studies where after the war when dairy products were re introduced in western countries, osteoporosis levels shot up.

This is not borne out by the medical advice in the UK or by the Royal Osteoporosis Society, or my consultant who does a lot of work (voluntary ) for them.

Dairy wasn't rationed during the war in the UK. Milk was freely available.

There is some evidence that if the body is in a more alkaline state, it benefits bones. This needs a high intake of fruit and veg, and no fizzy drinks containing phosphoric acid.

Hormones in milk can be avoided by buying organic but not all farmers use hormones as growth promoters for dairy cows or beef cattle.

Looking at that website it appears to say that a vegan diet + a half cup of soybeans every day is the cure for everything from menopause to covid to diabetes. You can donate to their work furthering this cause if you wish - there's an entire section devoted to guiding you on how to part with your money. Same as all serious and reputable medical organisations. 🤔

@Vegandiva also read up on link between women who did not take HRT and then the possible link with Dementia. For me, both dementia and osteoporosis run in my maternal family. My mother succumbed to both and as with a lot of women in the 1980’s/early 90’s did not take HRT because of the largely unproven concern it was linked to breast cancer.

As I said before, everyone’s journey is personal and I encourage everyone to read up on what is right for them and then seek assistance in whichever way you want to proceed. For me, HRT (a combo of bio-id Oestrogen, micronised progesterone and testosterone) has been an absolute game-changer as to how I function. I am back to feeling like I was in my 30’s.

@Vegandiva I am just wondering if you are US based (noting the time difference in your posts.) There can be a big difference sometimes between medical advice and lifestyle in the US, and the UK. Farming in the US is on a completely different scale (especially for animals like cows) and this may have some bearing. I completely agree that plant based diets are good, but not necessarily that avoiding dairy is the way to go.

Interesting ...

https://www.activistfacts.com/organizations/23-physicians-committee-for-responsible-medicine/

but if HRT is potentially mostly combatting the effects of a profoundly unhealthy diet

Diet is very important. But having the healthiest diet ever doesn't cut it for many women.

it seems to me we owe it to ourselves to start there before consuming artificial hormones.

If you are in peri and need help with symptoms @Vegandiva , there is a lot of information a online about HRT.

It's not artificial hormones. (Again, querying if you are in the US where they still prescribe Conjugated Equine Estrogen.)

In the UK, body identical estrogen is used. This is made from yams, so should be suitable for vegans :)

@Ocani I didn't want to point that out (!) but a lot of these websites, especially from the US, are not what they appear. I looked at the links to the research and some is 25 years out of date.

Yeah it's an animal rights group previously censured by the AMA for spreading misleading and dangerous misinformation.

Oh well. Back to slapping on the oestradiol it is. (Referred to as 'hormone "replacement" ' by this lot - the implication being that it's not actually a replacement.)

For anyone who wants to add soya or other beans to their diet, but finds that beans fight back and cause symptoms of IBS, green, fermented or sprouted beans are generally far better tolerated than classic dried beans.

Edamame are green soya beans. Tempah and nato are made from fermented soya beans. TVP and soya 'milk' are made from unfermented soya.