Hot flushes and other menopausal symptoms in relation to soy product intake in Japanese women.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the relationships between dietary intake of soy products and hot flushes and other menopausal symptoms.


METHODS
Subjects were 284 women aged 40-59 years who attended a health check-up program provided by a general hospital in Gifu, Japan. They completed a health questionnaire including the Kupperman test of menopausal distress. Diet was assessed by a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire.


RESULTS
Fermented soy product intake but not total soy product intake was significantly negatively correlated with hot flush severity (r = -0.16, p = 0.01) after controlling for age and menopausal status. Neither total soy product intake nor fermented soy product intake was significantly correlated with menopausal index score. Estimated isoflavone intake from total and fermented soy products was significantly lower by 15% (p = 0.02) and 19% (p = 0.01), respectively, in women with hot flushes, compared to those without hot flushes after controlling for covariates.


CONCLUSIONS
The data support a hypothesis that intake of fermented soy products alleviates the severity of hot flushes.
Nagata
C
C
Department of Public Health, Gifu University School of Medicine, 40 Tsukasa-machi, Gifu 500-8705, Japan.
Shimizu
H
H
Takami
R
R
Hayashi
M
M
Takeda
N
N
Yasuda
K
K
D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D019584:Hot Flashes / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D007529:Isoflavones / Q000008:administration & dosage; D007564:Japan; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D013025:Glycine max; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D007529:Isoflavones