Plant-based diet helps cool hot flashes, study suggests
By
Mallika Marshall, MD
/ CBS Boston
BOSTON - A plant-based diet could have a cooling effect for many women suffering from hot flashes.
A new study published in the journal Menopause found that a low-fat, plant-based diet, rich in soy could improve moderate to severe hot flashes in postmenopausal women by as much as 88-percent, on par or perhaps even better than hormone replacement therapy.
The diet also helped participants lose an average of eight pounds and improved their quality of life.
Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.