World's best menopause remedies

Long before modern medicine, women around the globe relied on natural fixes for their most bothersome menopause symptoms. Today, research confirms these time-tested solutions really work, offering relief for everything from hot flashes to hair loss.

- BY ANN GREEN

Tame hot flashes the Asian way

Women in Asia report up to three times fewer hot flashes than their Western counterparts. One possible reason: the creamy soy milk they sip at breakfast. This staple has been part of women's first meal of the day in China's mountainous regions for over 2,000 years. Soy milk is rich in phytoestrogens, compounds that mimic estrogen in the body. And George Washington University research finds soy is effective at taming flushing. Indeed, women in their study following a plant-based diet who began eating 1/2 cup of soybeans daily-equivalent to around 1 to 1½ cups of soy milk experienced 84% fewer moderate to severe hot flashes within 12 weeks.