Evidence library · Quality of life

Does exercise with supplements affect quality of life in menopause? What 14 studies found

Studies of exercise with supplements in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women that measured quality of life. 8 reported an improvement and 2 found no difference against the comparison group.

  1. A review of seven trials with 400 women found exercise therapies showed very uncertain or little effect on joint pain, stiffness, grip strength or quality of life from aromatase inhibitor side effects.

    Mixed resultsMeta-analysis · 400 participants pooled · 2020PostmenopausalCited 36 timesPubMed

  2. A meta-analysis of 19 trials in postmenopausal women found adding exercise to medicine or supplements improved lumbar spine bone density, leg muscle strength, balance, and quality of life.

    Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 1,249 participants pooled · 2024PostmenopausalCited 13 timesPubMed

  3. Postmenopausal women with osteopenia did 52 weeks of hip-targeted strength, balance and jumping exercise with calcium, and showed a small hip bone density benefit plus better quality of life versus controls.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 39 women · 52 weeks · 2012PostmenopausalCited 49 timesPubMed

  4. Postmenopausal osteopenic women who did 24 weeks of Tai Chi, with or without green tea polyphenols, reported improved emotional and mental health quality of life scores, with no effect on liver or kidney safety markers.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 171 women · 24 weeks · 2010PostmenopausalCited 37 timesPubMed

  5. Postmenopausal women with knee osteoarthritis did 12 weeks of resistance training with creatine or placebo; creatine group showed greater gains in physical function, lean mass and quality of life.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 12 weeks · 2011PostmenopausalCited 52 timesPubMed

  6. Postmenopausal women did 6 months of mixed exercise with or without phytoestrogens; quality of life scores improved only in the group combining exercise with phytoestrogens, menopausal symptoms unchanged in both.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 40 women · 26 weeks · 2011PostmenopausalCited 21 timesPubMed

  7. Overweight postmenopausal women in a 12-month weight loss program with aerobic exercise and vitamin D or placebo showed no improvement in depressive symptoms or quality of life from vitamin D.

    No difference foundRandomised trial · 52 weeks · 2016PostmenopausalCited 33 timesPubMed

  8. Older postmenopausal women did 32 weeks of elastic band resistance training with or without seawater supplementation and researchers found resistance training, not the supplement, drove improved strength and lower body fat.

    Direction not statedRandomised trial · 93 women · 32 weeks · 2023PostmenopausalCited 10 timesPubMed

  9. In postmenopausal women aged 50 to 70, 8 weeks of core and balance exercises with or without vitamin D improved balance and quality of life, with no added benefit from vitamin D.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 99 women · 8 weeks · 2021PostmenopausalCited 10 timesPubMed

  10. Overweight postmenopausal women did 1 year of aerobic and resistance exercise with or without soy isoflavones, and both groups showed similar improvements in quality of life and climacteric symptoms.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 31 women · 52 weeks · 2017PostmenopausalCited 13 timesPubMed

  11. Postmenopausal women aged 50 to 60 did treadmill training twice weekly for six months, with or without phototherapy, and showed improved cholesterol and reduced skinfold thickness.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 30 women · 26 weeks · 2017PostmenopausalCited 10 timesPubMed

  12. Postmenopausal women with knee osteoarthritis did 24 weeks of home leg exercises with or without vitamin D3 or E, and all groups improved in symptoms and strength with no added benefit from supplements.

    No difference foundRandomised trial · 80 women · 24 weeks · 2026PostmenopausalPubMed

  13. Breast cancer survivors will do resistance and aerobic exercise with omega-3 supplementation or education for 12 to 24 weeks to test effects on lean body mass; this is a study protocol with no results yet.

    Direction not statedOther · 153 women · 24 weeks · 2014Midlife womenCited 12 timesPubMed

  14. A review synthesized evidence on combining structured exercise with functional foods and supplements like vitamin D in postmenopausal women, finding the clinical evidence for bone and quality of life benefits remains heterogeneous.

    Mixed resultsOther · 2026PostmenopausalPubMed

How to read this. Each line is one study, summarised in plain language from its PubMed abstract, with the authors' own sentence underneath on the study page. A count of studies is not a verdict: trials differ in size, length and quality, and a result in one group of women may not hold in another. Nothing here is medical advice.

Summaries are generated, then checked by machine against the abstract they came from; any summary that could not be matched word for word was left out. Our clinical lead is reviewing the summaries topic by topic, and this note will change when that is done. Corpus last refreshed 2026-11-03. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix the summary or remove the study.

Other exercise types and quality of life