Middle-aged women may be able to reduce the amount of fat they put on around the midriff during the menopause by supplementing their diets with soya protein, research has suggested.

A study in the US has found that menopausal women who drink a soya milkshake daily gain less abdominal fat than those taking a placebo, both under the skin and around the organs.

If the preliminary findings, from a group of nine women, are confirmed in a larger sample, they could have important health implications because abdominal fat is not just a cosmetic problem, but also raises the risk of conditions such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Before middle age, this more dangerous “apple” profile of fat build-up is typically male, as oestrogen protects women against it and causes fat to accumulate on the hips, giving a “pear” shape.

However, when women go through the menopause they stop producing oestrogen and become more likely to put on weight around the midriff. Their risk of developing heart disease rises accordingly.

In a study presented to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference in Washington, a team led by daniel Christie gave the nine post-menopausal women a daily milkshake, while a control group of six received a milk-based shake that was otherwise similar in nutritional content. CT scans of the women's bodies showed that, after three months of drinking the respective shakes, the soya group had lower levels of abdominal fat. “Probably by looking you could not tell, but the CT scan results were significant,” Dr Christie said.

Soya contains natural chemicals that mimic oestrogen, particularly a group known as isoflavones, and it is often used as an alternative to hormone replacement therapy.

Scientists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have now started to test whether it affects the profile of fat build-up after the menopause. Dr Christie will also be conducting a larger trial, involving 70 women, to validate his preliminary results.

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