Does soy help alleviate menopausal symptoms, like hot flashes?
In 1992, researchers began to think, based on emerging evidence, that soyfoods might account for the fact that many Japanese women did not experience hot flashes. Since that time, more than 50 trials have examined this issue. A recent summary analysis of research on this topic was presented in Milan and concluded that the overall reduction in hot flash frequency and severity from soy is about 50 percent. Research published in the Experimental Gerontology Journal in 1994 found that the percentage of women experiencing hot flash symptoms was much lower among Japanese and Chinese women than among those in North America (Lock, 1994). This finding prompted researchers to examine cultural differences, which led to much investigation of soy’s potential role in alleviating hot flash symptoms. A systematic review and meta-analysis of all studies that used soy isoflavones as a treatment for menopausal symptoms was completed in 2006 and published in the Maturitas Journal (Howes, 2006). The resear
