Menopause problems: Fermented red clover may save you from hot flushes, bone loss

Women going through Menopause face many problems due to the internal body changes and also due to the hormonal changes that take place inside the body. But now no more. A latest study has found that fermented-red clover extract can be of great help in reducing the number and severity of hot flushes, hormonal swings and bone loss that women face during menopause.

Menopausal bone loss is a problem that affects one in three women that are over the age of 50. According to the study the extract also prevents this problem of bone loss during menopause which is at fast pace.

Researcher Max Norman Tandrup Lambert told that the fermentation of the red clover extract is the main thing that makes difference. The lactic acid fermentation increases the bioavailability of bioactive estrogen-like compounds.

The team led by professor Per Bendix Jeppesen, from the department of Endocrinology and Internal Medicine under the department Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, investigated fermented red clover extract and found that it is a better and healthier alternative than estrogen therapy proscribed by doctors.

The red clover extract was fine-tuned to improve the gastro-intestinal uptake of the active isoflavone compounds.

60 women with menopause symptoms were analysed by the researchers on the basis of the criteria of minimum five severe hot flushes per day and blood tests (including FSH, that indicates the “stage” of menopause).

The participants were divided into two groups of 30 each. One group participants were given 150 ml red clover extract per day for a period of 12 weeks while in the other group participants drank a masked placebo product. They were tested again after 12 weeks.

 In this study, hot flush symptoms of women were measured. This was done with the help of ‘skin conductor’, a device that checks the number of hot flushes and their severity based on the process of sweat secretion when applied to the underside of the wrist. Similarly, test of red clover extract on bone health was done with the help of DXA scans of the spine and hips.

According to the findings, results are promising and have no side-effects of traditionally proscribed hormone therapies that increase the risk of cancers and cardiovascular diseases.