My Menopause Blog

Finally. After dutifully but not consistently drinking and eating soy without really understanding why, the proverbial light bulb went on. This thanks to a presentation titled The Role of Soy Isoflavones in the Management of Menopause by Dr. Alison M. Duncan at the Menopause Symposium.

I will try to regurgitate the goods, figuratively speaking.

Soy contains phytoestrogens…phyto meaning plant and estrogen meaning the hormone. When eaten, these phytoestrogens are able to give us soy consumers estrogenic effects. Estrogenic means like estrogen. Phytoestrogens exist in a variety of foods. The soy version is called Isoflavones.

Estrogen loss, which typically arrives farther into peri-menopause and closer to the Full Monty Menopause experience affects our cognitive function. That would be our thinking. It also is the major player behind our double bill performance of Hot Flash and the Night Sweats, heart disease risk, Osteoporosis (bone loss/density) and Breast Cancer risk.

Soy Isoflavones can be absorbed and metabolized by our body, but is considerably weaker than our own, body made estrogen.

Apparently researchers have observed while 60 - 80% of Western women have hot flashes, only 20% of Asia women do. One of the key differences between these two worlds is diet and particularly the amount of soy that is consumed on a daily basis.

There have been a number of studies, many reported by Dr. Duncan during her talk at the symposium. I will admit to glazing over as numbers and graphs appeared on the power point presentation. Science and I parted ways after my first attempt at the subject in Grade 9. It was the frog dissection that did me in. To this day I flash back when anything remotely scientific gets dragged into the conversation.

Fortunately, Dr. Duncan knew that she was speaking to the likes of me so eventually cut to the chase with a Take Home Message regarding Isoflavones and the aforementioned symptoms of menopause. So we’ll go there shall we?

Bottom line: Isoflavones appear to decrease hot flashes in some clinical studies. There is no apparent benefit to taking larger doses of Isoflavones. Not all studies were able to show an effect beyond the placebo …..placebo being the group in a study that think they’re taking the medicine or substance being studied when in fact they’re talking a sugar pill.

Another bottom line: When it comes to cognitive function, the message is slightly more compelling. Isoflavones may improve cognitive function.’Think Tofu’ could be the new slogan.

Bottom line farther down: There is a new health claim that recommends 25 grams of soy food per day (about 1 cup of soy milk or 1/2 cup of tofu) to help reduce the risk of heart disease, which tends to spike as the March of Menopause continues and our age increases.

Bottom line below the bottom line: Our bone health gets a boost from Soy. Unlike our minds, we want dense bones. Fractured hips and brittleness do not sound fun.

At the bottom of all the bottom lines: No study reports an increase of breast cancer risk, yet women who have breast cancer may want to avoid large amounts of soy due to the fact that some breast cancers are spurred on by estrogen. Further, there is some suggestion that consuming soy while a teenager may offer breast cancer prevention.

Two things I’ll note about soy. Soy crops are among the most heavily sprayed with pesticides. Genetically modified soy (GMO) is common and highly contentious. We do not have sufficient data to determine the health affects of GMO’s. It’s a bit of an experiment in fact.

So, I’m going to carry on with my soy routine. I buy organic tofu and soy milk. Tofu gets plopped in something once a week and soy milk graces my cereal or blended shake daily unless of course I go to Eggcettera for breakfast. Then it’s Eggs Benedict all the way.

Sue Richards

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