A Public Educational Guideline Development to Relieve Post Menopausal Hot Flashes Symptoms in Women between 45-60 Years Old Based on Proper Diet and Exercise

The study purpose was to develop a public education guideline for reducing menopausal symptoms and its complications based on proper diet and exercise in women between 45-60 years old. It was a combined study designed in two stages. The first stage was a systematic review. All of the articles which focused on the effects of diet and physical activity on reducing hot flash after menopause that published in Iran and abroad since 10 years ago were extracted and the results recorded. In the next stage, a panel of experts was held. Through a qualitative method, the specialists discussed the obtained results from the reviewed articles. The outcome presented in a booklet format. 410 articles were obtained from external and internal sources, and by eliminating redundant and irrelevant articles, the results of 77 articles were analyzed; 40 of these articles were about diet and 37 articles were about physical activity. The summarized results showed that daily using of phytoestrogen supplements such as passion flower extract 60 drops, vitagnous extracts 40 drops, licorice extract powder 60 mg or ingestion of 60 g of baked soybean powder, along with moderate to high- intensity aerobic activities such as 30-45 minutes walking (3-5 days a week) were effective in reducing the hot flash’s symptom of women between 45-60 years old. Finding showed that regular physical activities and dietary regimen containing phytoestrogens such as passion flower, vitagnous and licorice extract, and soybeans are effective to relieve hot flash symptoms in menopause women.