Women with postmenopausal hot flashes will be recruited via social media and randomly assigned to an intervention or control group. The intervention group will be asked to consume a low-fat, vegan diet including ½ cup (86g) cooked soybeans (30 g uncooked) for 12 weeks. Support will be provided by weekly meetings conducted via an Internet video conferencing platform (e.g., Zoom), along with individual counseling as needed. The control group will be asked to make no diet changes for 12 weeks but will be offered instruction in how to follow a vegan diet and about the potential role of soybeans after the 12-week point. The frequency and severity of hot flashes will be assessed before, during, and after the 12-week intervention.
This study tests the hypothesis that a low-fat, vegan diet including soybeans reduces the frequency and severity of menopausal hot flashes, and tests the hypothesis that total isoflavone intake is associated with the reduction in the frequency and severity of hot flashes.