New Study Says This 1 Diet Could Significantly Reduce Hot Flashes In Menopause

Here's what doctors want you to know about it.

Plant-based diets are often recommended by health experts for reducing cancer and heart disease risks, helping maintain a healthy weight and improving overall health. And now, a new study suggests that eating this way may also help reduce hot flashes for women during menopause.

The research, published in May in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society, asked 84 women to eat a low-fat vegan diet with soybeans (including some highly processed plant-based foods) or their usual diets, which typically mixed plant and animal foods. While the study is small, after 12 weeks, the vegan eaters’ severe hot flashes decreased by 92%, and they lost about 8 pounds.

So if you’re in perimenopause or menopause, does that mean you should go vegan? It likely couldn’t hurt — but doctors say it’s better to focus on eating more plant-based foods and not worrying so much about being completely vegan.

“We know a plant-based diet has benefits for overall health,” Dr. Susan Haas, an OB-GYN and chief of the division of gynecology at Lehigh Valley Health Network, part of Jefferson Health in Pennsylvania, told HuffPost. “This study shows that a plant-based diet might also help hot flashes, and that it’s OK to get your plant-based foods as processed food found routinely at the grocery store.”

What’s significant about this research?