Post-menopausal women taking supplements of a red clover extract may experience fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Such symptoms reduced by about 80 percent following 90 days of doses of 80 milligrams of red clover isoflavones.
Researchers recruited more than 100 post-menopausal women over the age of 40 and randomly assigned them to receive either the red clover isoflavones or a placebo. Measures of depressive and anxiety symptoms showed that anxiety was reduced by 76 percent and depression by 78 percent.
The researchers proposed that the isoflavones could protect against neuron damage by inhibiting inflammatory pathways.