Plant-derived nutrition and perimenopausal emotional health: current evidence and research priorities
- 1Department of Gynecology, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine , ,
Abstract
Perimenopause combines ovarian hormone variability with changes in stress regulation, inflammatory-redox balance, neuroplasticity, and gut-brain metabolism, creating a period of increased vulnerability to depressive symptoms, anxiety, irritability, and sleep disturbance. This narrative review synthesizes evidence on plant-derived foods, bioactives, dietary supplements, and standardized botanical preparations relevant to emotional health during the menopausal transition. Targeted searches of PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Scopus identified literature published through 31 July 2026. Evidence was classified by consumed form and reproductive-stage directness and integrated across three regulatory axes: endocrine-stress regulation, immune-redox-neuroplasticity, and gut-brain-metabolic communication. Human evidence includes small randomized trials of standardized saffron, rhapontic rhubarb, fenugreek, ashwagandha, and shatavari preparations, with product-specific psychological-symptom signals, as well as a null Hypericum-Vitex trial. Evidence for plant-rich dietary patterns and isolated bioactives derives mainly from broader menopausal or adult populations. Across studies, reproductive stage, exposure composition, symptom endpoint, and preparation standardization emerge as key determinants of interpretation. Linking symptom clusters with proposed pathway involvement generates hypotheses for prospective phenotype-stratified nutrition trials. Future studies should combine reproductive staging using the Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop + 10 (STRAW+10) framework, prespecified emotional outcomes, dietary assessment, standardized product characterization, exposure biomarkers, metabotype profiling, and safety monitoring. This framework positions plant-derived nutrition as a testable component of perimenopausal emotional-health research and functional-food development.
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BibTeX
@article{sun2026plantderived,
title = {{Plant-derived nutrition and perimenopausal emotional health: current evidence and research priorities}},
author = {Zhirui Sun and Xue Liu and Shuyue Dong and Qun Liu and Kun Wu and Xinyue Zhang and Zi Ye and Yi Wen and Maoya Li and Shaobin Wei},
journal = {Frontiers in nutrition},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fnut.2026.1961915},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13724517},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Plant-derived nutrition and perimenopausal emotional health: current evidence and research priorities
AU - Zhirui Sun
AU - Xue Liu
AU - Shuyue Dong
AU - Qun Liu
AU - Kun Wu
AU - Xinyue Zhang
AU - Zi Ye
AU - Yi Wen
AU - Maoya Li
AU - Shaobin Wei
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/19
JO - Frontiers in nutrition
DO - 10.3389/fnut.2026.1961915
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13724517
AB - Perimenopause combines ovarian hormone variability with changes in stress regulation, inflammatory-redox balance, neuroplasticity, and gut-brain metabolism, creating a period of increased vulnerability to depressive symptoms, anxiety, irritability, and sleep disturbance. This narrative review synthesizes evidence on plant-derived foods, bioactives, dietary supplements, and standardized botanical preparations relevant to emotional health during the menopausal transition. Targeted searches of PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Scopus identified literature published through 31 July 2026. Evidence was classified by consumed form and reproductive-stage directness and integrated across three regulatory axes: endocrine-stress regulation, immune-redox-neuroplasticity, and gut-brain-metabolic communication. Human evidence includes small randomized trials of standardized saffron, rhapontic rhubarb, fenugreek, ashwagandha, and shatavari preparations, with product-specific psychological-symptom signals, as well as a null Hypericum-Vitex trial. Evidence for plant-rich dietary patterns and isolated bioactives derives mainly from broader menopausal or adult populations. Across studies, reproductive stage, exposure composition, symptom endpoint, and preparation standardization emerge as key determinants of interpretation. Linking symptom clusters with proposed pathway involvement generates hypotheses for prospective phenotype-stratified nutrition trials. Future studies should combine reproductive staging using the Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop + 10 (STRAW+10) framework, prespecified emotional outcomes, dietary assessment, standardized product characterization, exposure biomarkers, metabotype profiling, and safety monitoring. This framework positions plant-derived nutrition as a testable component of perimenopausal emotional-health research and functional-food development.
SN - 2296-861X
ER -