Does exercise with supplements affect blood sugar and insulin in menopause? What 12 studies found

Overweight postmenopausal women who walked three times weekly for 12 weeks with or without an EGCG supplement showed reduced waist circumference and body fat, with no difference between supplement and placebo.

Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 38 women · 12 weeks · 2007PostmenopausalCited 95 timesPubMed

Overweight postmenopausal women did 6 months of resistance and aerobic exercise with or without soy isoflavones; exercise reduced fat mass and increased lean mass, with no added benefit from isoflavones.

Direction not statedRandomised trial · 100 women · 26 weeks · 2011PostmenopausalCited 65 timesPubMed

Obese postmenopausal women did six months of exercise with or without isoflavone supplementation, and exercise plus isoflavone reduced body weight and abdominal fat more than exercise alone.

No difference foundRandomised trial · 50 women · 26 weeks · 2007PostmenopausalCited 57 timesPubMed

In sedentary postmenopausal women, 12 weeks of combined endurance and resistance training improved body composition, performance and insulin sensitivity, with no added benefit from DHEA supplementation.

Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 31 women · 12 weeks · 2008PostmenopausalCited 49 timesPubMed

Postmenopausal women with insulin resistance who added soy isoflavones to a Mediterranean diet and exercise programme for 24 months showed lower insulin resistance than diet and exercise alone.

Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 116 women · 104 weeks · 2010PostmenopausalCited 30 timesPubMed

Postmenopausal women did exercise plus Mediterranean diet, with or without soy isoflavones, for 24 months; the soy group showed greater drops in fat mass, glucose, insulin and inflammation markers.

Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 65 women · 104 weeks · 2012PostmenopausalCited 30 timesPubMed

Overweight postmenopausal women did 16 weeks of resistance training with or without DHA supplementation, with training maintaining bone mineral content, increasing lean mass and strength, and improving glucose tolerance.

Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 16 weeks · 2021PostmenopausalCited 36 timesPubMed

After 6 months of combined aerobic and resistance exercise, postmenopausal women taking phytoestrogens showed greater reductions in weight, fat mass and blood pressure than those on placebo.

Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 21 women · 26 weeks · 2010PostmenopausalCited 17 timesPubMed

Middle-aged women doing one bout of resistance exercise with or without DHEA supplementation showed improved glucose tolerance, with lipids lowered only when DHEA followed exercise.

Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 20 women · 2005Midlife womenCited 12 timesPubMed

In 26 postmenopausal women, 8 weeks of combined exercise with ursolic acid supplementation raised handgrip strength more than exercise with placebo, but waist circumference and other outcomes did not differ.

No difference foundRandomised trial · 26 women · 8 weeks · 2021PostmenopausalCited 6 timesPubMed

Postmenopausal women with overweight or obesity did 16 weeks of resistance training and/or DHA supplementation, with muscle quality improving more with resistance training and cardiometabolic markers improving more with DHA.

Direction not statedRandomised trial · 16 weeks · 2025PostmenopausalCited 1 timesPubMed

Postmenopausal women doing 8 weeks of circuit resistance training, with or without an herbal supplement, showed increased apelin and decreased insulin and blood glucose levels.

Reported an improvementControlled trial · 96 women · 8 weeks · 2020PostmenopausalCited 8 timesPubMed