Original Articles

Whole plant foods intake is associated with fewer menopausal symptoms in Chinese postmenopausal women with prehypertension or untreated hypertension

Liu, Zhao-min PhD1; Ho, Suzanne C. PhD2; Xie, Yao Jie PhD3; Woo, Jean MD1

Author Information

From the 1Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR; 2Division of Epidemiology, The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR; and 3Department of Sports Science and Physical Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR.

Received June 23, 2014; revised and accepted August 25, 2014.

Z.-m.L., J.W., and S.C.H. conceptualized the study. Z.-m.L. collected and analyzed the data and drafted the manuscript. J.W. reviewed the manuscript and checked its grammar. All coauthors critically commented on and revised the manuscript.

Funding/support: This study was funded by the Hong Kong Research Grant Committee General Research Fund (grant RGC-GRF 465810).

Financial disclosure/conflicts of interest: None reported.

Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citations appear in the printed text and are provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal’s Website (www.menopause.org).

Address correspondence to: Zhao-min Liu, PhD, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR. E-mail: [email protected]

Menopause 22(5):p 496-504, May 2015. | DOI: 10.1097/GME.0000000000000349

Abstract

Objective 

Nutritional factors have been suggested to be associated with menopausal symptoms (MS). However, the role of overall diet in MS has seldom been examined in Asian populations. This study aims to examine the association of dietary patterns with MS in Chinese postmenopausal women.

Methods 

This was a cross-sectional study of 726 women with prehypertension or untreated hypertension who attended the screening visit for a soy trial. Dietary data were collected using a validated food frequency questionnaire containing 85 food items. Principal components factor analysis was used to derive dietary patterns based on 11 food groups. Factors were rotated by orthogonal transformation. Menopause-related symptoms were assessed by a 20-item validated and structured checklist.

Results 

Three dietary patterns were identified: processed foods, whole plant foods, and animal foods. Higher tertile of whole plant foods (P for trend <0.05) or lower tertile of processed foods (P for trend <0.05) was associated with fewer MS in a dose-dependent manner. Multivariate linear regression analyses showed that whole plant foods scores were negatively associated with MS scores, even after adjustments for a range of potential confounders (P < 0.01). Logistic regression analyses showed that whole plant foods intake was associated with a significant reduction in risk for nonvasomotor symptoms only.

Conclusions 

Our study demonstrates that high intake of whole plant foods is independently associated with fewer nonspecific MS. Further evidence from well-designed prospective studies is required to confirm this finding.

© 2015 by The North American Menopause Society.

Full Text Access for Subscribers:

Not a Subscriber?

Request Permissions
Become a Society Member

You can read the full text of this article if you:

Access through Ovid