For the dietary-supplement industry, the infatuation with phytoestrogens is a bonanza. At Capitol Drugs in West Hollywood, California, women of a certain age are stocking up on black cohosh and dong quoi, another estrogenic herb that can be added to tea. Yet none of these products have been adequately tested for safety and effectiveness because dietary supplements are not stringently regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. For their part, health-food companies are bringing snack bars, shakes and breads containing soy and flaxseed to market, and mainstream food manufacturers are considering similar products. But women who fold these foods into their diet may be disappointed.
Plants vary enormously in the amount of phytoestrogens they contain.
And some soy products, especially powdered soy protein, are processed in ways that remove their phytoestrogens entirely. What alarms many physicians is the perception that estrogens produced by plants are somehow intrinsically benign. Under the care of her naturopathic physician and co-author, Marcus Laux, Conrad claims to have safely and comfortably navigated her own menopause, which followed a hysterectomy she underwent at age 46. Anecdotal reports suggest that in large doses phytoestrogens can promote the abnormal growth of cells in the uterine lining. To prevent this, women on conventional estrogen-replacement therapy typically take progestin along with their Premarin.