Soybean compound may reduce hot flashes

BOSTON, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- A compound in soybeans might help reduce hot flashes in menopausal women, a U.S. study found.

The study, published in Menopause, found women taking a soy supplement reduced the frequency of hot flashes by more than 50 percent compared to a 39 percent reduction in the placebo group.

"What we are trying to find is a safe and effective alternative to hormone therapy," senior author Dr. George Blackburn of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School said in a statement. "Our study found that patients who consumed the soy supplement showed a reduction in the number of hot flashes."

The researchers divided 147 menopausal women into three groups to compare the placebo to two concentrations of the compound in soybeans -- daidzein-rich isoflavone-aglycone. After 12 weeks, hot flash frequency was reduced by 52 percent in the 40 mg DRI group and 51 percent in the 60 mg DRI group.

Isoflavones are one of several classes of phytoestrogens -- substances with chemical structures similar to estrogen that exert both estrogen-like and anti-estrogen properties.

The study used a standardized, concentrated isoflavone ingredient called AglyMax made by extracting the isoflavones from soy germ fermented with Koji fungus.