Why Japanese Women Don’t Get Hot Flushes

japanese woman exercising

There have always been rumored myths about how Japanese women do not get hot flashes, or that they barely get any. Hot flashes are one of the most dominant symptoms of menopause. Other symptoms include sleep problems, weight gain, reduced metabolism, and mood changes. Is the rumour about hot flashes in Japanese women fact or fiction? And does the same apply to the rest of the menopause symptoms? Read on to find out.

 

A diet of plant-based estrogen-rich foods may be the key

The Japanese, and many other Asian cultures, are known to rely heavily on natural plant-based foods. When researchers began looking into the issue of Japanese women not being highly affected by menopause, their focus quickly turned to what they ate. Researchers have over time agreed that their diet holds the key. The Japanese diet is rich in plant-based estrogen-rich foods. The plant-based estrogen helps to top up the endo-estrogen that the body has now stopped producing. And that minimizes the severity of their menopausal symptoms. 

 

Some of the foods rich in estrogen

So what exactly are Japanese women eating that is so rich in estrogen? Researchers have narrowed down the Japanese women’s secrets to soy bean and soy products such as soy milk, tofu, deep-fried tofu, soy bean curd, soy milk curd sauce, miso soup, and natto (a superfood made of fermented soy beans).

 

Other dietary changes that women can make to reduce the intensity of hot flashes include consuming less wine, coffee, dairy products, sugar, and spicy foods.

 

What do scientific research studies show?

There has been quite a number of studies into the question of whether Japanese women experience hot flashes. The results are mixed. But the majority of it shows that Japanese women do indeed experience fewer and less severe hot flashes compared to women in the west.

 

One of the earlier studies conducted in 1992 and published on the American Journal of Epidemiology involved over one thousand Japanese women and concluded that those who consumed more soy sauce product experienced less hot flashes.

 

Could it all be a case of poor cultural translation?

Some researchers have mentioned that cultural differences could be to blame for the perception that Japanese women experience hot flashes any differently. One research study based in Hilo, Hawaii, argued that it could be that Japanese women just don’t talk about their menopause symptoms as openly as their western counterparts, hence the “bias”.

 

The verdict:

A considerable body of scientific research agrees that Japanese women do indeed experience hot flashes, just not nearly as hard as their counterparts in the west. And research does show that dietary estrogen from plants, especially soy, has a great deal to do with it.

More Info: Risk factors for hot flashes among women undergoing the menopausal transition: baseline results from the Midlife Women’s Health Study.