Women's health after 40, and what the research actually supports
The physiology of estrogen decline, the evidence and safety profile of isoflavones and black cohosh, and labeling rules.
Soy isoflavone trials for menopausal symptoms have produced famously inconsistent results. For years that inconsistency was attributed to study design. There’s a better explanation, and it isn’t about the trials. It’s about who was in them. The conversion step Daidzein is one of the two main soy isoflavones. In some people, gut bacteria convert it … Read more
If you live in Korea and eat Korean food, you’re already getting isoflavones daily. Adding supplements raises a reasonable question: does the total add up to something worth thinking about? The answer requires knowing what your baseline actually is — and the survey data on that produced two surprises. The baseline, and why two … Read more
Framework comparisons are abstract. Following one ingredient through three regulators is not. Soy isoflavone is the ideal test case. All three jurisdictions looked at it. Two reached opposite conclusions on the same endpoint, and the third didn’t rule at all. What the EU concluded EFSA assessed soy isoflavones under Article 13(1) of the EU … Read more
The menopausal transition is the stretch of years before periods stop for good, when the body starts changing while cycles are still happening. Sleep gets patchy. Cycles drift. Something feels different, but a blood test comes back looking unremarkable — and the appointment ends without a clear answer. I used to assume a hormone panel … Read more
Reading FSH and estradiol on a lab report gets complicated fast when you’ve lived in more than one country. A number that looked alarming on a Seoul lab slip turns out to be unremarkable against the range your doctor at home used. Or the reverse. Before anything else: this is about understanding what’s printed on … Read more