QUALITY OF LIFE OF POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN RECEIVING PLANT-BASED PHYTOESTROGENS

Background: A gradual and continuous loss of oestrogen may place the middle age woman at the risk of getting menopause symptoms, which profoundly affects her comfort. A phytoestrogen is a natural plant hormone similar to the female hormone oestrogen. Eating dietary phytoestrogen, improve the health standard of women by producing and regulating oestrogen level in the body. Materials and Methods: A study was done to evaluate the effects of plant phytoestrogen in the form of soya milk on the quality of life of 125 healthy postmenopausal women. Following the consent process, the participants were randomly allocated into control and the intervention group. Intervention group participants received 200 mL of homemade soya milk for a period of six weeks and the control group participants did not receive any intervention. Menopause-specific quality of life questionnaire (Menqol) was used before the intervention, 6 weeks after the intervention and at 10^th-week follow-up to assess the quality of life of postmenopausal women. Results: Study results revealed that there was a significant reduction in all the domains (p<0.001) of Menqol among women in the intervention group. Conclusion: Menopausal symptoms experienced by women are known to affect their quality of life. Consuming natural plant-based oestrogen is cost-effective, and it has lot of beneficial effects.