Feb 17, 2016

The Importance Of Soy Products For Menopause Relief

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By Graciela Wynn Chavez


Over the past years, there has been popular belief that the use of soy and its constituent products goes a long way in treating several diseases for example the heart disease, osteoporosis as well as cancer-related illnesses. Inasmuch as this may be true, the norm that soy and its products reduces the effects of menopausal symptoms is not validated, neither is it factual. There are many forms of soy, for instance soy milk, soy cheese, soy meat and soy beans, among others. There has also been emergence of powdered soy as well as soy for menopause relief, as produced by some companies.

Soy is extremely rich in isoflavones, some types of phytoestrogen. Phytoestrogens are simply chemicals embedded in plants that are characterized as having similar functions with estrogens. It is argued that the body can synthesize them to work similarly with estrogens.



Hitherto, there has been alternative ways of treating women in menopausal, for example by dint of conventional medicines, but in the recent past, the use of natural approaches to relieve discomforts associated with menopausal has become exceedingly popular. This has since prompted the foods and supplement industries to make alternatives to the traditional conventional pharmaceutical estrogens like Premarin. In consequence, the soy foods industry has benefited most from this quest for natural solutions for menopausal, arguably because of soys high content of phytoestrogen.

The soy food industries have taken advantage of the fact that soy contains high rates of phytoestrogen, which behaves like estrogen. This makes people prefer them to other medicines, majorly because of their natural factor, in reducing the uncomfortable effects of low estrogen levels that is experienced in the course of menopause. Nevertheless, it is not yet absolutely confirmed if isoflavones play similar roles as estrogens. Therefore, the inference that soy products are all that a woman suffering from menopausal symptoms needs to check the menace is not completely appropriate.

It is important to note that soy phytoestrogens have minimal impact on vasomotor symptoms like night sweats, vaginal dryness and hot flashes. Studies relieved that women who made use of soy products that are phytoestrogen-rich realized a thirty five to fifty percent decrease in the intensity of their hot flashes.

However, while these soy estrogens diminish the effects of these hot flashes, they are clearly incomparable to conventional estrogens, which more often than not, eliminate hot flashes completely, and quicker. The isoflavones in soya, it has been confirmed by several recent studies, are inhibitors of aromatase, and this thereby lowers the estrogen levels made in the body. This is counterproductive in the control of vasomotor symptoms.

The use of soy does not effectively solve the menace of hot flashes or any other discomforts of menopause. The hormonal mimics they harbor, called isoflavones, instead, cause disruptions to the hormonal systems of the body, which are highly delicate. Further disorders like insomnia and mood swings among others, are also resultant.

Conclusively, though there has been a speculation that the use of soy and its products helps in the managing of menopause discomforts, there is no valid proof for this.




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