A new study published by the North American Menopause Society in the journal Menopause found that eating a plant-based diet is as effective as hormone replacement therapy for reducing menopausal hot flashes, without the associated health risks, such as increased risk of breast cancer.

The WAVS trial which stands for the Women’s Study for the Alleviation of Vasomotor Symptoms, found that eating a diet rich in plant-based foods reduced moderate to severe hot flashes by 88% and helped women lose, on average, eight pounds in 12 weeks.

According to the MGH Center for Women's Health, about 80% of women experience vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats as they transition into menopause. For most, the symptoms are manageable, but for a sizable subset of midlife women, these symptoms can negatively affect sleep, mood, and quality of life. While clinical guidelines suggest that these menopausal symptoms typically last from six months to two years, new research suggests that for many women, the duration is much longer.

The latest study suggests that diet intervention may play a role in alleviating these troublesome symptoms.

"We do not fully understand yet why this combination works but it seems that these three elements are key — avoiding animal products, reducing fat, and adding a serving of soybeans,” explains lead researcher Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and adjunct professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine. “Our results mirror the diets of places in the world, like pre-Westernized Japan and modern-day Yucatan Peninsula, where a low-fat, plant-based diet including soybeans is more prevalent and where postmenopausal women have fewer symptoms.”

Barnard tells Newsmax that soybeans contain isoflavones, which act like natural medicines against hot flashes. In addition, the combination of a plant-based diet and reducing fat seems to calm down hormonal shifts.

Included in the study were 84 postmenopausal women who reported two or more hot flashes daily. They had followed a typical American diet without any restrictions. They were randomly assigned either to an intervention group that consumed a low-fat, vegan diet with half a cup of soybeans daily, or to a control group that made no dietary changes for 12 weeks.

“This study demonstrates the effectiveness of a dietary intervention for postmenopausal symptoms,” said Barnard. “As well, it is precisely the diet that would be expected to reduce the health concerns of many women reaching menopause: an increasing risk of heart disease, breast cancer, and memory problems.”