Women's Health Articles

Menopause is a natural part of a woman's life when her body quits producing certain hormones. Symptoms of menopause can include:

• night sweats/hot flashes
• weight gain
• mood swings
• forgetfulness
• insomnia

Studies have been conducted and concluded that women in Asian cultures show a lower incidents of these menopausal symptoms. This has been attributed to the dietary differences in cultures, including consumption of soy products like soy pasta. The following paragraphs will take a closer look at how soy pasta noodles can help relieve the symptoms of menopause, as well as include a simple soy pasta recipe. Menopause Studies

Many human studies have been conducted on menopause and soy in order to determine the effectiveness of an increased soy diet and menopause. Many of these studies have concluded by adding soy to your diet, including soy pasta, soy pasta noodles, soy milk, soy cheese and other soy products, women can decrease their chances of suffering with menopausal symptoms, or make the symptoms less frequent. These studies not only revealed a significant link between soy consumption and menopausal symptoms, but they also concluded that while soy is not a replacement for Hormone Replacement Therapy, it is a viable option for women who do not want to take hormone therapy. Homemade Pasta (Soy) Recipe

Adding soy pasta to your diet twice a week, you can help reduce or even eliminate your menopausal symptoms. This healthy pasta absorbs flavor, and is good for you! The following soy pasta recipe will help you learn how to make simple soy flour pasta from scratch! Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup of soy flour
• .25 ounces of dry yeast (2 1/2 tablespoons)
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 3/4 cup of warm tap water
• 3 tablespoons of oil

First you must mix the flour, soy flour, and salt together in a bowl. After that, mix half the flour mixture with the yeast and sugar. Set the rest of the flour mixture aside.

Now add the water and oil to the yeast mixture and beat on low speed for about 1 minute. Slowly add as much as the flour mixture left over as you can.

Put the dough on a floured board and knead. Cover the soy pasta dough with a damp towel for about 7-10 minutes. Roll and cut.