As I indicated in my last blog, I believe that soy should be consumed only a couple of times a week by anyone with estrogen dominance, premenopause, or other conditions where estrogen levels are out of balance with progesterone levels. Additionally, I believe that women who are in menopause but who are taking tamoxifen for breast cancer or those who have a thyroid concern should also limit their soy intake.
That being said, I do feel it is okay for a woman who is experiencing menopause symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, and other menopause problems to consume soy. The key to soy for menopause relief is the natural isoflavones in soy. Therefore, the key is to eat the right amounts of soy foods in the right forms to help you ease the negative side effects of menopause.
I still maintain that you should limit your consumption of soy no more than one serving a day in a pure form such as edamame, tofu, or tempeh. On the isoflavone front, Dr. Lark recommends having 50-100 mg of soy isoflavones a day to effectively treat menopause symptoms. In relation to soy foods, this breaks down to one cup of tofu (70 mg isoflavones), 1 cup of tempeh (70 mg isoflavones), or ? cup edamame (75 mg isoflavomes) a day.