Letter from Tieraona Low Dog, M.D: If you’re like me, you’ve probably noticed that some of your patients get great results from eating soy or taking soy isoflavones for relief of menopausal symptoms. Yet for other patients, these approaches are ineffective.
Have You Wondered Why Soy Isoflavones Don’t Always Work?
I did. I was puzzled by this discrepancy in my own practice, and my curiosity was further fueled when I discovered I wasn’t alone. The research — which I combed through — directly reflected my personal experience.
Some studies, especially those conducted in Asia, showed that soy isoflavone supplements were extremely helpful for easing hot flashes and night sweats. Yet other studies, conducted in the United States, yielded mixed results.
In 2005, I did a presentation at the State of the Science conference, hosted by the National Institutes of Health, on the use of dietary supplements and botanicals in menopause. At the time, we didn’t know how to account for women’s different outcomes when taking soy isoflavones. Now, more than 12 years later, we have new information that could unlock the mystery.
In this video, I share with you what we’ve learned, and explain why a newly available ingredient called S-equol, a metabolite of a soy isoflavone, helps level the playing field for menopausal women. By addressing the key reason isoflavones don’t work for so many women, it greatly expands the pool of patients that may experience relief from their menopausal symptoms. Click on the image below to access the video.
