Soy Doesn't Stop Bone Loss Or Ease Menopause Symptoms: Study

Middle-aged women searching for a safe alternative to hormone therapy to prevent bone loss and ease the symptoms of menopause are in for another letdown.

The latest in a series of disappointing studies finds that soy supplements, an increasingly popular substitute for hormone therapy, do not stave off hot flashes, night sweats, and other uncomfortable menopausal symptoms.

Nor did the supplements reduce the aging-related bone loss that can lead to osteoporosis, the study found.

More from Health.com:
Can Supplements Ease Menopause Symptoms?
11 Foods for Healthy Bones
How to Stay Cool During a Hot Flash

"Isoflavones, the plant-derived estrogens found in soy, are very weak estrogens, so it is not surprising that they have not shown to be as effective ... as hormone therapy," says the lead author of the study, Silvina Levis, M.D., the director of the osteoporosis center at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine.

"Women taking soy isoflavone tablets to alleviate hot flashes and prevent bone loss at the time of menopause might want to reconsider," she adds.

During menopause a woman's body produces less estrogen and progesterone. Hormone therapy, which entails replacing one or both of these hormones via medications, significantly reduces menopausal symptoms and helps maintain bone health, but it can also increase the risk of blood clots, stroke, heart disease, and breast cancer.

Soy protein, a fixture of Asian diets, has been considered a possible alternative to hormone therapy for years, ever since researchers observed that women in Asia tend to have lower rates of bone loss and osteoporosis than their counterparts in the West. However, clinical trials of soy in menopausal women have had mixed results.

In the new study, published this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, 248 menopausal women were randomly assigned to receive a placebo pill or 200 milligrams of soy isoflavone supplements per day -- a dose "equivalent to approximately twice the highest intake through food sources in typical Asian diets," Levis says.

At the end of the two-year study, bone scans showed no differences in bone mineral density between the two groups. (The amount of bone loss in the study was quite low overall, perhaps because most of the women were overweight, the researchers say; women are generally less susceptible to bone loss if they're overweight.)

Likewise, the soy supplements did nothing to ward off hot flashes. In fact, 48 percent of the women who took soy experienced hot flashes, compared with just 31 percent of those in the placebo group. Roughly one-third of the women in the soy group also reported constipation as a side effect, versus 21 percent in the placebo group.

So if soy isn't beneficial, what options are women left with?

To prevent bone loss, women should stick with the basics, Levis says. That means getting enough calcium and vitamin D, exercising regularly, and, in some cases, taking bone-strengthening drugs such as bisphosphonates.

As for hot flashes and night sweats, the anti-seizure drug gabapentin or certain antidepressants in the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class may help some women, says Deborah Grady, M.D., a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

"There's evidence that some of the SSRIs work, but they don't seem to work as well as estrogen," says Grady, who cowrote an editorial accompanying the study. "That leaves us with estrogen. It's too bad, but that is the answer."

Comments

[shaylward]

06:57 PM on 08/12/2011

I couldn't care less what "studies" say, a cup of soy milk in the morning and again at night eliminates my hot flashes.

[OverseasVet]

03:54 AM on 08/14/2011

The power of suggestion is just that strong.

[Arturo Ramrez]

10:53 AM on 08/10/2011

Some issues that i'm seeing with this study, though.

They used more than the usual intake, why? It could be dose dependent, too much could be that...too much.

Overweight women. Sex hormones are...basically...a type of fat, so again, hard to see what's going on there. It should've been women with a healthy weight.

They administered isoflavones. So the conclusion should be that isoflavone pills don't work, there could be interactions with other elements in the soy that could help.

I'm not saying that soy works, but from what I see, this study was really poorly conducted.

[OverseasVet]

04:24 AM on 08/14/2011

They could not have used more than the standard dose since a standard dose is not defined except by individual suppliment hawkers. They did not have a weight requirement only a requirement to be aged 45 to 60 years within 5 years of menopause and with a bone mineral density T score of -2.0 or higher in the lumbar spine or total hip. They used soy isoflavone tablets like big suppliment companies recommend. If you are going to question a science article it is required to read the article and not some journalists interpretation. The pubmed ID is PMID: 21824950.

[Arturo Ramrez]

02:50 PM on 08/14/2011

Point taken about the journalist's interpretation, I'll check it out once I'm at the University. Though, I do insist that if the article says "SOY doesn't stop bone loss", the interpretation is far fetched, but, as usual, it's due to poor science journalism.

[Holyhormones]

09:40 AM on 08/10/2011

Bone loss is the result of declining hormones and lack of bone stressing exercise, not declining levels of soy. The answer is bioidentical hormone balance (progesterone/estrogen/testosterone), not the Premarin/Prempro horse urine many doctors are quick to push on their patients despite the documented health risks. Antidepressants have been shown in studies to not work any better than a placebo for hot flashes, with significant side effects (loss of libido, weight gain,lethargy, cognitive impairment---- the same effects of menopause!) I started a protocol of bioidentical hormones 5 years ago, my hot flashes disappeared in 3 days, within 3 weeks I was off five medications-- my restless leg syndrome, acid reflux and seasonal allergies were gone (hormones affect every system in the body). I was able to discontinue Ritalin I had taken for 15 years for ADD. My osteopenia was cured with the BHRT, Vitamin D and exercise. I am blessed to have a doctor who "gets it" and believes that hormone (biodentical) optimization is preferable to a handful of toxic medications. I travel from NC to Southern CA to be his patient, and it's the best decision I have ever made. If anyone would like a list of resources to help you find a practitioner in your area, please feel free to drop me an email at [e-mail] and I will get the list to you (it also includes a list of recommended reading, I prefer to recommend books written by doctors and health professionals).

[ToraChaCha]

06:18 AM on 08/12/2011

well said. since this article and the studies are very misleading. done by drug company perhaps? since i have been on progesterones (bio-identical hormone) within 1 month it has done wonders for me.
- i no longer have muscle cramps when i stretch my legs,
- my skin is more radiant
- I am nearly 40, just suddenly in the last 2 years (after a flu recovery during the swine flu period), i have low immune system function just before period starts. progesterone + better diet fix it in less than 1 month.
- i have energy, i only need 8 hr of sleep now. in the last 2 years, i used to sleep 10-12 hours and still feel tired with inability to even open my eyes

i can say for bone grow, to say estrogen is better is high sceptical. huffington post you need to do better than to spread these falsehood. Dr michael platt written in his book that in his 25 yr + service as a doctor who prescribe bio-identical hormones vigorously disagree. you can pretty much find dr lee and dr gluck both written books on this said the same. you just look up estrogen with insufficient progesterones (extracted from soya) caused 3 cancers cases to women given bio-identical hormone treatment.

I urge people to research for themselves and not take estrogen and question your doctors' judgement if they advise you to take it.

[OverseasVet]

04:45 AM on 08/14/2011

Unfortunately your references are not science based. There is no scientific evidence that “Bioidenticals” include progesterone, estrogens (estriol, estradiol, and estrone), and testosterone are safe or effective. And a number of medical organizations from the American Cancer Society to the Mayo Clinic, have issued statements similar to that effect. They plainly state that patients should be discouraged from taking any of them.

[pattyg77]

05:01 PM on 08/09/2011

This information about SOY, I found out the hard way...SOY is like poison to my body. It made 'ALL' of my menopausal symptoms worst! Boy, I think the soy lobbyists must be powerful because they have added this poison to far too many food products.

[ABXNOMORE]

08:14 AM on 08/11/2011

That's exactly what it is, a soy lobby and a powerful one. It's not about good health because it's not good for you. It's only healthy in it's fermented form, natto, soy, tempeh and miso and made the way Asians used it in ancient times in small quantities, not mass produced in as it is today. Most soy sauce sauce is commercially made and bears little resemblance to it's ancient roots. It's in every product on the super market shelf to make $$$$$$$, not to make people healthy.

[pattyg77]

02:48 PM on 08/11/2011

Amen to that...

[TheSecularist]

04:54 PM on 08/09/2011

They need to redo the study. Soy helps tremendously with hot flashes, insomnia, and irritability. It doesn't get rid of them, but 75g a day (25g at each meal) made peri-menopause bearable. If the symptoms without soy were a 100, the reduced symptoms with the help of soy were a 25

[Janeu]

04:33 PM on 08/09/2011

No kidding....I could've told you that.

[ABXNOMORE]

08:15 AM on 08/11/2011

You most be one of the small percentage of people who actually dig deeper to find info. Most are clueless and eat any junk on the supermarket shelf.

[liltrix]

04:28 PM on 08/09/2011

What did all our grandmothers and great grandmothers do without all the pharmaceuticals the industry is trying to shove down our throats. How on earth did they ever survive to 80 and 90?

[mschultzpa]

04:40 PM on 08/09/2011

1. Depends on what generation you are talking about. They usually died in their 50's-60's.

2. It lasts through menopause, some after menopause but it usually ends.

3. They were called nuts.

[liltrix]

12:55 AM on 08/10/2011

Well, my grand mothers live into their early 90's. Both were born in the late 1800's. My great grand mother lived into her 80's. You're right, they were called nuts. But I'm wondering if there were any folk remedies or natural remedies they relied on. There was always some kind of underground medicine for women when it came to reproduction and women's cycles.

[littlefairy]

06:47 PM on 08/09/2011

It was never polite or even acceptable to talk about these things, and remember, most physicians have been male, historically, so for them to even believe there were such things took a while. For heaven's sake, it wasn't until the 1970s that they believed women actually had menstrual cramps and weren't making them up!

P.S. I would understand your questioning this if you have never had bad hot flashes. For those of us women who have had bad ones, however, believe me, they can get VERY bad and really interfere with a normal life.

[liltrix]

12:53 AM on 08/10/2011

I am going through hot flashes now as a matter of fact. And, they are bad. I have found that Soy has helped me as does exercise. I just don't trust the pharma industry constantly messing with women's hormones throughout our lives as if we are diseased or something. The rest I agree with you as to the incredible discrimination against women in our grandparents time.