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Soya reduces sleep problem in women

The estrogen-like compounds found in soya could help postmenopausal women get a better night's sleep.

Soya reduces sleep problem in women

The estrogen-like compounds found in soya could help postmenopausal women get a better night's sleep.

Isoflavones have been tested for a number of menopausal symptoms as well as for treating health problems that become more common after menopause, such as high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and increased body fat. But so far very little work has been done to see its effect on insomnia, a very common problem in older women.

To investigate whether isoflavones might be beneficial in reducing insomnia, researchers in Brazil examined subjective and objective sleep parameters and measured changes in these parameters during treatment with isoflavones. The researchers followed 38 postmenopausal women with insomnia, who were asked to take either 80 milligrams of the isoflavones or a placebo for four months. All of the study participants filled in a questionnaire and underwent sleep study (polysomnography).

The findings revealed that average sleep efficiency - the percentage of time that women spent in bed actually sleeping went up from 78 percent at the beginning of the study to 84 percent at the end in the isoflavone group while in  the placebo group, sleep efficiency increased from 78 percent to 81 percent.

Ninety percent of the women who reported moderate or intense insomnia at the beginning of the study decreased to 37 percent after taking isoflavones for four months. In the placebo group, the percentage decreased from 95 percent to 63 percent.

The study suggests that isoflavone treatment is effective in reducing insomnia symptoms in postmenopausal women as confirmed by increased sleep efficiency.
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