Aim: 

The rate of bone loss further increases in postmenopausal women when the ovaries stop making estrogens. Since clinical practice has found that women undergoing treatment for menopausal osteoporosis require long-term dosing therapeutic regimens that offer no symptomatic relief and may cause side effects, many therapeutic alternatives have been proposed.

Epidemiological data support a robust relationship between soy isoflavones, fracture incidence and bone mineral density in postmenopausal women, suggesting that an high isoflavone intake restores the metabolic balance of bone formation and resorption. Isoflavones are a subgroup of phytoestrogens mainly contained in soy and soy products that possess multiple effects on physiological systems, including discrete effects on estrogen receptors and a variety of other cell signalling pathways.

Methods: 

Although it is difficult to identify the specific isoflavone most responsible for preventing or restoring bone loss, new encouraging preclinical and clinical data indicate that aglycone genistein appears to be the most effective isoflavone in preserving bone health.

Results and Conclusions: 

Genistein through a peculiar dual mode of action can positively regulate bone cell metabolism rebalancing bone turnover towards bone formation. The positive results achieved by genistein intake in terms of efficacy and safety have stimulated the development of medical food products for the clinical management of postmenopausal bone loss.