A vegan diet containing soy significantly reduces hot flashes in postmenopausal women
A low-fat vegan diet that includes soy promotes changes in the gut microbiome that reduce postmenopausal vasomotor symptoms, or hot flashes, by 95% overall, according to a new study from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. A vegan diet also eliminated severe hot flashes, led to a 96% reduction in moderate to severe hot flashes and reduced daytime and nighttime hot flashes by 96% and 94%, respectively. Participants also lost an average of 6.4 pounds.
Women who want to combat hot flashes should nourish the bacteria in their gut with a vegan diet rich in fruits, vegetables, grains and beans, which also leads to weight loss and protects against heart disease and type 2 diabetes.”
Hana Kahleova, MD, PhD, study co-author, director of clinical research at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
The new research is a secondary analysis of the WAVS study – the Women’s Study for the Alleviation of Vasomotor Symptoms – which the Physicians Committee previously published in the journal Menopause. In the study, 84 postmenopausal women who reported two or more moderate to severe hot flashes daily were randomly assigned to the intervention group that was asked to follow a low-fat vegan diet, including half a cup of cooked soybeans per day, or to the intervention group that was asked to eat a follow a low-fat vegan diet, including half a cup of cooked soybeans per day. the control group who continued their usual diet for twelve weeks.
For the secondary analysis, stool samples from a subgroup of 11 participants were used to perform a gut microbiome analysis at baseline and after 12 weeks on a vegan diet. Changes in the abundance of different families, genera and species of bacteria were found.
The study is the first to show that a reduction in the abundance of Porphyromonas and Prevotella corporis is associated with the reduction of severe daytime hot flashes. Prevotella corporis has also been found in the intestines of people with rheumatoid arthritis and appears to have pro-inflammatory properties.
The decrease in the abundance of Clostridium asparagiforme was accompanied by a decrease in the total number of severe and intense nocturnal hot flashes. Clostridium asparagiforme also appears to produce trimethylamine N-oxide, a compound associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Reduced abundance of Clostridium asparagiforme may partially offset the beneficial effects of a plant-based diet on cardiovascular health explain and establish a possible link between hot flashes and incident cardiovascular disease.
Changes in the abundance of other bacteria looked at in the study may play a role in relieving hot flashes by stabilizing estrogen levels, reducing inflammation and increasing satiety, among other things.
The authors say larger randomized clinical trials are needed to further investigate these findings.
Source:
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Magazine reference:
Kahleova, H., et al. (2023). A dietary intervention for postmenopausal hot flashes: a potential role of the gut microbiome. An exploratory analysis. Complementary therapies in medicine. doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2023.103002.
