GEEK ALERT!
Brain fog is a common symptom many women complain of during their menopause journey. What can you do about it? I took a ‘geeky’ look at some of the research around actions you can take to help you with brain/cognitive function…
A study published in 2014 undertook to review the impact of supplanting with soy isoflavones on cognitive function. This was a meta-analysis – which is the best kind of research as it gathers data across all relevant research and amalgamates all the data to come up with a ‘summary’ review. This type of research helps to overcome issues of individual bias which are always present in any research.
Research into the benefits of supplanting with soy isoflavones (more of what these are in a mo) on cognitive function have not been conclusive – some papers have demonstrated a benefit whilst others see no overall improvements. This meta-analysis did conclude that there was a demonstrable improvement in summary cognitive function, and visual memory. It was however unable to show improvements across a number of areas including verbal memory, executive function, attention, processing speed and language.
What are soy isoflavones? Soy is a recognised ‘phytoestrogen’ or ‘plant estrogen’. That is it’s a food which has a molecular structure similar to our body’s estrogen. How does that help? Well we have estrogen receptors throughout our body – including our brain. Plant estrogen can act like a ‘weak’ estrogen and interact with these estrogen receptors.
Supplementing with soy isn’t appropriate for everyone – and take advice if you’re not sure.. but can have some benefits. If you’ve looking for food sources of soy opt for minimally-processed and organic where possible – I think I’ll be having edamame beans in my lunch today!
Interestingly the groups were supplemented with between 100mg - approx 160mg / isoflavones/day for periods of 6 weeks - 30months.
