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An Overview of Menopausal Dietary Supplements and Cognition

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Nutrition and Diet in Menopause

Part of the book series: Nutrition and Health ((NH))

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Key Points

  • Cognitive decline in menopause: Many women complain about memory loss and cognitive deficits during the menopausal transition and after menopause.

  • Estrogens in cognitive function: Estrogens play a key role in memory and cognition, and hormone replacement therapy once thought to improve mental function, may actually have a negative impact.

  • Risks with HRT: Clinical evidence shows increased health risks associated with long-term hormone replacement therapy and many menopausal women are resorting to dietary supplements to alleviate symptoms, including memory loss and cognitive decline.

  • Role for phytoestrogens: Supplements containing phytoestrogens (isoflavones), abundant in soy and red clover, are commonly used as “natural” hormone replacement.

  • Clinical evidence on dietary supplements: Twelve randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials were identified which assessed the effect of six different dietary supplements on the performance of various tests of memory and cognitive function in postmenopausal women.

  • Soy and isoflavone supplements: Nine out of the twelve RCTs assessed the effect of soy and isoflavone supplements on mental function in menopausal women.

  • Study flaws: Most studies had several methodological shortfalls which limit the conclusions drawn.

  • Suggestive results: Five studies suggest that supplementation with isoflavones, soy and Gingko biloba significantly improved performance on various tests of memory and cognitive function.

  • Conclusions: The current clinical evidence does not support the use of dietary supplements, including soy, isoflavones, red clover, gingko, ginseng, or black cohosh for the amelioration of memory loss and cognitive decline in menopause.

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Abbreviations

ERβ:

Estrogen receptor beta

HRT:

Hormone replacement therapy

RCT:

Randomized controlled trial

ITT:

Intention-to-treat analysis

CEE/MPA:

Conjugated equine estrogens plus medroxyprogesterone acetate

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medical Sciences, Pharmacology Unit, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

    Yuri N. Clement B.Sc., Ph.D.

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  1. Yuri N. Clement B.Sc., Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Yuri N. Clement B.Sc., Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social, College of Health and Social Care, Department of Midwifery, University of Salford, Salford, M5 4WT, United Kingdom

    Caroline J. Hollins Martin

  2. Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public, Health, and School of Medicine, University of Arizona, Arizona Health Sciences Center, Tucson, 85724-5155, Arizona, USA

    Ronald Ross Watson

  3. Dept. Nutrition & Dietetics, King's College, Stamford St. 150, London, SE1 9NH, United Kingdom

    Victor R. Preedy

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Clement, Y.N. (2013). An Overview of Menopausal Dietary Supplements and Cognition. In: Hollins Martin, C., Watson, R., Preedy, V. (eds) Nutrition and Diet in Menopause. Nutrition and Health. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-373-2_27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-373-2_27

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-62703-372-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-62703-373-2

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