Red cover may improve symptoms of depression and anxiety in postmenopausal women, researchers report. Red clover is a legume that contains estrogen-like compounds called isoflavones. These isoflavones are often used to treat menopausal symptoms and high cholesterol and to help prevent osteoporosis. The recent study included 109 postmenopausal women who were at least 40 years old. They were randomly assigned to receive either 80 milligrams of red clover isoflavones or placebo daily for 90 days. Then, after a seven-day washout period, the women switched treatment groups for an additional 90 days. At the beginning and end of each treatment period, the researchers assessed depressive and anxiety symptoms using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Zung's Self Rating Depression Scale (SDS). In the group that took red clover, total HADS scores decreased significantly by 76.9 percent (76 percent for anxiety and 78.3 percent for depression). SDS scores reduced by 80.6 percent. In the placebo group, total HADS and SDS scores also decreased significantly compared to baseline, but only by an average of 21.7 percent. Although these results are promising, additional research is needed to confirm these findings and to identify a potential mechanism of action. Reference: Lipovac M, Chedraui P, Gruenhut C, Gocan A, Stammler M, Imhof M. "Improvement of postmenopausal depressive and anxiety symptoms after treatment with isoflavones derived from red clover extracts." Maturitas. 2010 Mar; 65(3):258-61. This article appeared in the March 2010 issue of the Integrative Medicine Newsletter for Natural Standard