First the bad news: women who suffer from hot flashes may be making their symptoms worse if they drink coffee or other caffeinated beverages. The Mayo Clinic recently conducted the most comprehensive study ever to investigate the relationship between caffeine and menopausal symptoms.
A total of 2,507 women seen at the Mayo Women’s Health Clinic in Rochester, Minn., participated. The women responded to a health questionnaire devised by the journal Menopause, which published the study online on July 21, 2014. Past studies have reached conflicting conclusions regarding a link between caffeine intake and hot flashes.
The good news is that this same study showed that caffeine consumption by perimenopausal women was linked to fewer problems with mood, memory and concentration. While the study’s conclusions were described by its authors as “preliminary,” Stephanie Faubion, M.D., director of Mayo’s Women’s Health Clinic, noted that the results do suggest that limiting caffeine intake may be prudent for women suffering from hot flashes and night sweats.
My take? Hot flashes can make a woman’s life miserable as she enters menopause, but luckily in most cases, the symptoms resolve on their own, usually within six months to a year. For those considering alternative approaches, black cohosh is an effective option and has been well studied, but unfortunately doesn’t work for all women.
Dietary measures I recommend include two helpings daily of whole soy foods such as tofu, tempeh, edamame (green soy beans in the pod) and miso, which may help because these foods contain plant-based estrogens. Women can also try the supplements dong quay, vitamin E and evening primrose oil, but, like black cohosh, they don’t work for everyone. The most reliable treatment is estrogen replacement, which may be worth considering on a short-term basis, at the lowest effective dose, if nothing else helps.
More information:
https://www.bio-hormone-health.com/2013/05/06/which-hormones-do-you-need-progesterone-oestrogen-or-both/
http://anna.blog.wellsprings-health.com/2013/12/06/what-makes-hot-flushes-worse/
https://www.bio-hormone-health.com/2014/05/23/a-simple-weekly-routine-for-applying-hormone-creams/