
The study is being touted as a ‘gamechanger’ for postmenopausal women who can ‘now get prompt relief from the most severe and troubling menopause symptoms without drugs’.
A plant-based diet rich in soy has been found to reduce moderate-to-severe hot flashes in postmenopausal women by 84%.
The data comes from a study published by the North American Menopause Society in the journal Menopause.
The WAVS trial – the Women’s Study for the Alleviation of Vasomotor Symptoms – shows that dietary changes can greatly improve menopause vasomotor symptoms, which refer to night sweats, hot flashes, and flushes.
Hot flashes affect as many as 80% of postmenopausal women, who experience heat rising up from the chest, causing flushing, sweating, and chills. At nights, they interfere with sleep.
Study
The study analysed the dietary impact on postmenopausal women reporting two or more hot flashes per day.
Participants were randomly assigned to either an intervention group – made to eat a low-fat, vegan diet, including half a cup of cooked soybeans daily – or to a control group that continued its regular diet for 12 weeks.
There were no hormone medications or extracts used.
The study recorded the frequency and severity of hot flashes as well as vasomotor, psychosocial, physical, and sexual symptoms.
Nearly 60% of women eating the soy-rich vegan diet for the 12-week study period reported that their moderate-to-severe hot flashes completely disappeared.
Additionally, the diet was reported to reduce total hot flashes (including the mild ones) by 79% and moderate-to-severe hot flashes from around five a day to less than one per day by 84%.
Many participants also saw improvements in sexual symptoms, mood, and overall energy. Others said their digestion improved and they also lost weight.
According to researchers, the effect may be a result of isoflavones found in soy products. The phytoestrogens produce equol – a nonsteroidal compound that can help reduce the hot flashes- when digested by the gut bacteria.
‘Game changer’
The study was based on the new approach to menopausal symptoms described in the book Your Body in Balance by Dr Neal Barnard, MD, president of the Physicians Committee and adjunct professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine.
Commenting on the findings, Dr Barnard, who led the research, said: “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.”
‘Anybody can do it’
Participants of the intervention group were equally amazed by the results. “This was basically a lifesaver for me,” one woman said.
“I’ve got my quality of life back,” added another. “I am sleeping better, and my hot flashes diminished tremendously.”
“Before you jump to any kind of medication, I would try this route, because it’s easy,” a third said. “Anybody can do it.”
Read: Plant-based eaters are more protected against severe Covid-19, new study finds
Share this story: Plant-based diet reduces menopausal symptoms by 84%, says new study.
Lifestyle
Vegan culture, food, beauty & more
Vegan Nottingham student creates budget-friendly oat milk machine to reduce carbon footprint and combat rising prices
- Mohsina Dodhiya
- 30th May 2023
The invention is sustainable and cost-effective. A vegan undergraduate studying product design at Nottingham Trent University has developed a container that can help people create their own oat milk at home for just 20 pence per litre. “Oatilicious,” provides significant cost savings compared to store-bought oat milk for up to £2.20 per carton. The innovative …
Bear Grylls ’embarrassed’ by past vegan diet promotes meat, blood, and bone marrow for better health
- Mohsina Dodhiya
- 15th May 2023
“I’ve tried to listen to my body more, tried to listen to nature, and I don’t miss vegetables at all. I don’t go near them, and I’ve never felt stronger, my skin’s never been better, and my gut’s never been better.” Adventurer and TV presenter Bear Grylls has become a die-hard carnivore fan after admitting …
VEGAN MEMES
NEED A LAUGH?
QUIZZES
All the quizzes you love to binge!
QUIZ: If you score 11/12 on this quiz, you’re a verified vegan food expert
- Marlon Farrugia
- 10th January 2020
How much vegan knowledge do you have stored away? Do you have to Google your way through a shopping trip, or do you have all the bad E-numbers memorised? Find out now with this quiz. Marlon Farrugia Marlon Farrugia is a freelance writer from Brighton. He has been a dedicated vegan for many years, and …
Continue reading “QUIZ: If you score 11/12 on this quiz, you’re a verified vegan food expert”
QUIZ: What is your perfect Vegan Halloween Costume?
- Marlon Farrugia
- 13th October 2019
Spook Season approaches. There will be ghosts, goblins, ghouls, and glucose. You need a costume, and you want to it to show off your personality, which means VEGAN. But what to choose? Take our quiz to find out your perfect outfit. Marlon Farrugia Marlon Farrugia is a freelance writer from Brighton. He has been a …
Continue reading “QUIZ: What is your perfect Vegan Halloween Costume?”
QUIZ: What kind of vegetable are you?
- Marlon Farrugia
- 26th September 2019
“If you were a vegetable, what kind would you be?” A question that has tormented humanity throughout the ages – until now. Read: QUIZ: If you score 19/20 on THIS quiz, you’re a Vegan God Marlon Farrugia Marlon Farrugia is a freelance writer from Brighton. He has been a dedicated vegan for many years, and …