Menopause is a natural process for women in their 40s and 50s. While some people fly through menopause easily, other women have severe enough symptoms to have menopause symptoms affect their daily life. A woman is considered to be in menopause when their monthly period has ceased for 12 months.
Some of the symptoms of menopause include:
• Missed menstrual periods
• Insomnia
• Mood swings
• Depression
• Feeling tired frequently
• Headaches
• Heart palpitations
• Joint and muscle pains
• Bladder control problems
• Changes in sex drive
• Dryness in the vaginal area
• Weight gain
The body produces less estrogen during menopause, causing menopausal symptoms for some women.
Ease Your Menopause Symptoms with Soy
Some of the symptoms of menopause that may be helped by consuming soy are hot flashes and sweating. According to the experts, soy contains isoflavones. Phytoestrogens are found in plants and work like estrogen in some cases. Isoflavones are an important part of the phytoestrogens found in soy. So when you consume soy, you consume estrogens.
Do Soy Isoflavones Help Menopausal Symptoms?
The studies on the effectiveness of soy isoflavones in helping women with symptoms such as hot flashes show that soy consumption may help women with hot flashes. However, the studies used a variety of sources of soy with different types of results. The most successful studies used soy isoflavones for treating hot flash symptoms.
Soy Isoflavones Safety
Outside of digestive problems, a daily serving of soy seems to have no risks. Soy is a marvelous source of protein as well as a good source of isoflavones, so adding it to your diet will improve your protein consumption. There is no known health reason to consume a huge amount of soy products. But there are also no studies that indicate routinely consuming soy is bad for your health either at this point. As with any subject in life, moderation is the key to using soy wisely.
How to Make Soy a Part of Your Daily Food Consumption
When you eat or drink soy, the isoflavone in the product does not stay in your system for a very long time. So if you plan on using soy isoflavones to relieve your menopausal symptoms, try eating soy through the day. The recommended dosage or serving of soy isoflavones is 40 mg to 80 mg.
Foods containing soy isoflavones include:
• Soy protein concentrates
• Miso
• Soybeans
• Tempeh
• Roasted soybeans, which also make a convenient portable snack
• Soy milk, which comes plain or in flavors such as vanilla and dark chocolate
• Tofu
• Tofu yogurt
• Meatless meats such as soy hot dogs and sausage
• Cheeses made of soy
If you are considering hormonal treatment of your menopausal symptoms, consider trying adding soy to your diet instead. Hormone replacement works well but is a less natural way to treat hot flashes. Plus hormones may increase the chances of some types of cancer, especially breast cancer. Why not try a natural substance first to see if you can reduce the frequency of your hot flashes. Consuming soy may also help prevent the weight gain associated with being in menopause. No prescription is needed and soy is a healthy addition to the diet when eaten in proper amounts.
