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By Naomi Waters


Almost all health-related magazines, documentaries and TV shows have hitherto, shouted out the myriad benefits of soy and its products in a wide range of health complications, spanning from breast cancer, osteoporosis, and the heart illness. Examples of soy products include soy milk, soy beans, soy cheese, and soy protein, among others. Some companies have also developed some soy pills and powders from soy phytochemicals, and have widely pronounced them to be natural healers for menopausal discomforts, and also other illnesses. It is not however not authenticated that soy products for menopause relief play a vital role in managing menopause symptoms.

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.

What people do not actually comprehend is that these isoflavones do not precisely play equivalent roles with estrogens, thereby not confirming their essence in the treatment process. The famous norm that soy products aid affected persons alleviate the consequences of menopausal is therefore invalidated and unjustifiable.

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 two most harmful soy foods are soy protein powders and infant soy formula. Soy has been linked to malnutrition, breakdown of the immune system, dysfunction of thyroid functions, cognitive decline, infertility, digestive distress, alongside a couple of other demerits.These reports therefore contradict earlier claims that soy foods play a great role in eradicating a host of health-related problems.

In conclusion, soy foods do not effectively treat menopausal symptoms. Menopause, being a natural condition, does not require medical intervention. Its approach therefore majorly involves proper diet, exercising and other lifestyle-related strategies. These lifestyle strategies have been confirmed to play a vital role in relieving menopausal discomforts, relative to the use of soy products.




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