Cardiologist Dr. Francine Welty has just conducted a study which shows that daily consumption of soy nuts might lower blood pressure and reduce hot flashes in menopausal women. However, she cautioned that the findings need to be confirmed in a larger number of women, before drawing firm conclusions about any links between diet, soy nuts and menopause.
Welty followed 61 menopausal women – 12 with high blood pressure and 49 with normal blood pressure – who served as their own control group by consuming no soy for eight weeks, then having a daily serving of a half-cup of dry-roasted, low-salt soy nuts for eight weeks.
The women were told to eat the soy nuts throughout the day – some at breakfast, some at lunch, some at dinner and some before going to bed. The mean age of the participants was 53 for those with normal blood pressure and 58 for those with high blood pressure.
The hypertensive women experienced an average 10 percent drop in systolic blood pressure and a 7 percent drop in diastolic blood pressure after eight weeks of daily soy consumption. Women with normal blood pressure had a 5 percent decrease in systolic blood pressure and a 3 percent decrease in diastolic blood pressure.
Welty said the drop in systolic blood pressure was a surprise finding, and she said it seems that even women with normal blood pressure can benefit from a daily serving of soy nuts.
Welty said she believes eating the soy nuts throughout the day helped reduce hot flashes because the level of soy in the women’s bodies was kept even. She said that might have helped lower blood pressure as well.
The women in the study also experienced an average 54 percent reduction in hot flashes. That drop is significant, Welty said, because “women absorb soy at different rates” – so though some women had as little as a 20 percent reduction in hot flashes, others had as much as an 80 percent drop.
Unprocessed Soy Nuts
Welty said this is the first trial to use “native,” or unprocessed, soy. Other studies on soy have all involved processed soy. Welty said she believes “something could be lost in the processing” that would account for the results seen in this study that were not seen in other studies.
Compliance by the women was not an issue, she said, because they were hoping to get relief of their symptoms, mainly hot flashes.
Welty said many of the women continued to eat soy nuts after the study ended, saying “they felt so much better,” but she added that it is too early to recommend daily consumption of soy nuts without more research to confirm the findings. Research is also needed into whether men can experience similar benefits for their blood pressure.
Study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Soy donated by Geni Soy.
Guide to Menopause, Weight & Diet
Best Diet Foods For Menopause
Foods to Restrict During Menopause
Best Vitamins For Menopausal Women
Best Minerals For Menopausal Women
For Lasting Weight Control
If you want to lose weight for life, follow Anne Collins Weight Loss Program. It’s PACKED with easy menus, “brilliant” weight loss tips, plus information on exercise and diet nutrition. The BEST VALUE weight loss diet program on the Net!
Return to Weight Loss Articles
