Effect of Soya Bean on the Female Reproductive Hormones and Menopausal Symptoms

Menopause is one of the most emotionally, physically and Psychological miserable times in a woman's life.It occurs following cessation of menses resulting in the decline of endogenous estrogen. Phytoestrogens are natural plant derived compounds found in a wide variety of foods and soy bean is considered to be the richest source of plant estrogens. Current advances in management of menopause have relied on the use of hormone replacement therapy; however they are associated with adverse side effects if used over a long period of time. Currently, there is varying opinion regarding the physiological impact of soy bean consumption and results of studies are sparse and inconclusive. Hence, the need to determine the effect of soya bean consumption on the female reproductive hormones and relief of menopausal symptoms.

Sixty nine postmenopausal women will be randomized into three groups of 23 each. Group 1received 50g daily of the soya bean powder as tea for 28days, Group 2 received 100g daily of the soya bean powder as tea for 28days and Group 3 was on their normal diet and acts as control for 28days. Questionnaire and blood samples will be collected before and after the 28days for analysis. Blood will be assayed for the female reproductive hormone(Estrogen, Progesterone, Antimullerin hormone, FSH and LH), while standardized questionnaire will be used to get information on about objective of the study.

The generated data will be analyzed with International Business Machine Statistical Package for Social Science (IBM-SPSS) software version 22(Chicago II, USA) 2015. Students' t-test (t-test) will be used for comparison between groups for continuous variables while chi-square (χ2) test will be used for categorical variables. Values were expressed as mean ± SD. Statistical significance will be considered at P<0.05.