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How to end hot flushes in menopause? Try a low-fat vegan diet with soybeans every day

  • Postmenopausal women who tried low-fat, vegan, soybean-heavy diet for a study noted an 88 per cent drop in hot flushes

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Having a low-fat vegan diet with a half cup of soybeans daily (above) was found to reduce hot flashes in menopausal women in a recent study. Photo: Shutterstock

A low-fat, plant-based diet with a daily dose of soybeans can significantly reduce hot flushes in menopausal women.

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The benefit of soybeans in alleviating menopausal symptoms is well established in the scientific community; the latest study combined this knowledge with a low-fat vegan diet.

American researchers found that postmenopausal women who ate the plant-based diet with 86g (3oz) of cooked soybeans daily saw an 88 per cent decrease in the number of moderate to severe hot flushes they experienced.

After 12 weeks, half of the women on the diet reported no moderate or severe hot flushes at all, according to the study by George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington. The results were published in the medical journal Menopause.

Hot flushes during menopause can be debilitating. Photo: Shutterstock
Hot flushes during menopause can be debilitating. Photo: Shutterstock
“The diet was more powerful than we had predicted, equalling the effects of hormone replacement therapy. It also led to healthful weight loss, and the participants found it easy, enjoyable, and in some cases life-changing,” said lead researcher Professor Neal Barnard.
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