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Total Health

Hope for Hot Flashes: Menopause & Soy

By:
Lynn Grieger

Natural help for hot flashes is available!

As women move into menopause, their bodies begin to decrease estrogen production, resulting in hot flashes and other uncomfortable physical symptoms. Soy products such as tofu, tempeh and miso are rich sources of isoflavones, an estrogen-like substance found in plants. Therefore, soy foods are a simple, natural hormone-replacement therapy.

"Soy?!" you say, slightly aghast? You are not alone. Many women I have counseled have either not tried soy products or have not enjoyed the variety they tasted. With this article, I hope to introduce you to the benefits of soy, and to some simple -- and tasty! -- ways to incorporate it into your diet.

How Much Soy Do You Need?

Several studies have attempted to pinpoint the amount of soy needed to produce a decrease in hot flashes, with successful results varying from 40 to 50 mg of soy isoflavones per day. Translation: To decrease hot flashes, you may need one to four servings of soy-based foods per day.

Isoflavone information:

The following chart outlines the approximate amount of isoflavones per serving available in traditional soy products.

Product Amount Isoflavones
soy milk 1 cup 40 mg
tofu 4 oz 40 mg
roasted soy nuts 1/2 cup 20 mg
textured soy protein 1/2 cup 35 mg
soy flour 1/2 cup 25 mg
tempeh 4 oz 40 mg
miso 1/2 cup 40 mg


Soy tricks and tips:

Soy is also available in most health food stores as a powder that can be mixed with juice or water, blended with a variety of fruits, and made into delicious drinks that pack a powerful nutritional punch.

How to Deliciously and Creatively Incorporate Soy Into Your Diet

Here are some tricks to try:

  • Purchase soy milk (fortified with vitamin D and calcium) and use on cereals and in soups and puddings.
  • Add small cubes of tofu to spicy soups and pasta dishes. Tofu itself is bland; by adding it to these spicy dishes, it simply absorbs the seasonings you have already chosen and gives you a nutritional boost.
  • Use silken tofu to replace all or part of the ricotta or cottage cheese in pasta or casseroles. Again, the tofu will absorb the flavor of your already seasoned dish, and the silken texture will be as smooth as the cheese it replaces.
  • Use textured vegetable protein (or soy -- they're the same thing) to replace part of the ground beef in chili, meat sauces, meat loaf and meatballs. Available in health food stores, textured vegetable protein (TVP) looks like coarse oatmeal and absorbs water to develop the texture of ground beef. For a recipe calling for a pound of ground beef, use instead 1/2 pound meat and one cup TVP. Simply add tomato juice, milk or canned chopped tomatoes to the TVP to get the texture of the ground beef, then mix in the meat and continue with the recipe. No one will be the wiser!
  • Use soy flour to replace part of the wheat flour in cookies, breads and muffins. The easiest method of adding soy flour to traditional recipes using yeast is to place two tablespoons soy flour in the measuring cup before you add the wheat flour. For quick breads, up to 1/2 the total amount of flour in the recipe can be replaced with soy flour.

So, if you're one of the many women suffering from hot flashes, try soy! You have nothing to lose and a world of health and great taste to gain.

Click here to buy The Whole Soy Cookbook.

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