Dietary plant oestrogens provide an excellent low risk alternative to HRT, having the capacity to reduce the symptoms associated with menopause making this natural transition easier to navigate.
Leading up to menopause, perimenopause, oestrogen levels are like a roller-coaster, going from very high to bottoming out at any given time. This causes a myriad of symptoms, such as hot flushes, night sweats, brain fog, mood swings, anxiety, sleep disturbances, irregular periods and vaginal dryness. During menopause, oestrogen and progesterone levels drop significantly, contributing to the list of symptoms mentioned, plus weight gain, low libido, cardiovascular risks and reduced bone density. What is needed in both perimenopause and menopause is hormonal balance. This is where our plant oestrogens provide therapeutic relief without the risks associated with HRT.
Plant oestrogens, a.k.a. phyto-oestrogens, can play an integral role in reducing the symptoms associated with these hormonal shifts. This is due to their ability to act as a weak form of oestrogen that have the capacity to bind (or block) oestrogen receptor sites. This smooths out the hormonal upheaval of perimenopause and menopause into a manageable transition. During peri menopause, phyto-oestrogens level out the oestrogen spikes by blocking the receptor sites which tells the brain to tell the ovaries to chill on the oestrogen production via negative feedback within the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis. During menopause, phyto-oestrogens act as weak oestrogen, mimicking the oestrogen produced in the ovaries (just like HRT only natural). Phyto-oestrogens are amphoteric, that is they can either increase an oestrogen-like effect or get the body to stop overproducing oestrogen, thereby lowering excess oestrogen production.
The fun part is that we can eat our way to hormonal balance by increasing phyto-oestrogens in our diet. One of the most therapeutic phyto-oestrogens are soy isoflavones found in soy products such as tofu, tempeh, soy milk, miso, and edamame (soybeans). Soy isoflavones can reduce hot flushes: in a recent meta-analysis, soy isoflavones reduced the frequency of hot flushes by 50.2% and reduced the severity by 47.6%. They improve low oestrogen related bone density and cardiovascular risks and are preventative against post-menopausal breast cancer risk.
The effective dose of soy isoflavones is 50 – 100mg/day.
The estimated isoflavone content in 100g of whole soy foods:
- Boiled edamame 65mg
- Miso 45mg
- Tofu 22 – 34mg
- Tempeh 35 -70mg
- Soy milk 7 – 10mg
- Natto – 73 – 82mg.
There are three types dietary phyto-oestrogens:
- Isoflavones – which include the above mentioned soy products and other legumes such as chickpeas and lentils
- Coumestans – found in sprouted foods I.e. alfalfa, sprouted mung beans and soy sprouts.
- Lignans – found in linseeds (a.k.a. flaxseeds), best bioavailability is freshly ground.
If the symptoms cannot be managed by diet alone, and this can be the case for severe menopausal symptoms, herbal medicine provides more intensive phyto-oestrogenic therapeutic effects and symptomatic relief. Click here to make an appointment if you’re struggling to get on top of it alone.