[A study on isoflavones intake from soy foods and perimenstrual symptoms].
OBJECTIVE
This study was conducted to explore the relationship between isoflavones intake from soy foods and perimenstrual symptoms among women.


METHODS
The research design was a cross sectional study. Subjects consisted of 245 women living in Korea, aged 19-49 years. The measurement tools were MDQ and FFQ.


RESULTS
Frequently consumed soy isoflavones foods were rice with soybeans, soybean paste stew, and soy paste with tofu. The amounts of soy isoflavones foods consumed in order from highest to lowest were rice with soybeans, soybean paste stew, seasoned soybean sprouts, and soy paste with tofu. Subjects were divided into three groups by isoflavones intake levels; the small intake group, moderate intake group, and large intake group. There were significant differences in some menstrual symptoms, and postmenstrual symptoms by isoflavones intake levels. In general, the moderate isoflavones intake group showed lower scores in some menstrual symptoms and postmenstrual periods compared to the small and large intake groups.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest some positive health effects of isoflavones from soy foods on perimenstrual symptoms. More accurate, objective measurement needs to be applied and more investigation of soy isoflavones effects on many aspects of women's health need to be done in a future study.
Kim
Hae Won
HW
Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, Kwandong University, Korea. hwkim@kd.ac.kr
Khil
Jin Mo
JM
D000328:Adult; D003710:Demography; D004034:Diet Surveys; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007529:Isoflavones / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D047648:Perimenopause; D045730:Soy Foods; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D007529:Isoflavones