"Results of a new study from epidemiologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health suggest that longterm high intake of vegetable protein from such foods as whole grains soy and tofu may protect women from early menopause and could prolong reproductive function.  Consuming enriched pasta dark bread and cold cereal were especially associated with lower risk while they observed no similar relation to eating animal sources of protein.  A better understanding of how dietary vegetable protein intake is associated with ovarian aging may identify ways for women to modify their risk of early onset menopause and associated health conditions write first author and thengraduate student Maegan Boutot with her advisor professor Elizabeth BertoneJohnson. Details appear in the current early online edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology. Early menopause the cessation of ovarian function before age  affects about  percent of women and is associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease osteoporosis and early cognitive decline the authors note. Few studies have evaluated how protein intake is associated with menopause timing they add and to their knowledge this is the first to look specifically at early menopause.  Boutot BertoneJohnson and colleagues in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at UMass Amherst with others evaluated the relationship between diet and risk of early menopause among members of the Nurses Health Study II NHS an ongoing prospective study of  women aged  when they entered it in . Participants were asked to report how often they ate a single serving of  foods beverages and supplements over the previous year from never or less than once a month to  per day. They observed that women consuming approximately . percent of their daily calories as vegetable protein had a significant  percent lower risk of early menopause compared to women whose intake was approximately  percent of calories.  For a woman with a  calorie per day diet the authors explain this is equal to three to four servings of such foods as enriched pasta breakfast cereal tofu and nuts or about . grams a day. They adjusted for age smoking body mass index and other possible confounding factors.  Boutot and BertoneJohnson add Though relatively few women in our study consumed very high levels of vegetable protein and our power for analyses of more extreme intake levels was limited women consuming  or more percent of their calories from vegetable protein had a hazard ratio of .  percent confidence interval  .. compared to those eating less than  percent. Others on the study team were from Brigham and Womens Hospital and Harvard Medical School. The study was supported by a grant from NIHs Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.  For the NHS followup questionnaires have assessed nurses lifestyle behaviors and medical conditions every two years. Nearly  percent have continued to participate in followup. Diet was assessed five times over the year study allowing the researchers to capture withinperson variation in changes in food and nutrient intake over times Boutot explains. Participants in the study contributed more than  million personyears of followup during which  women experienced early menopause. Boutot and BertoneJohnson suggest that more prospective studies of their findings are warranted including studies that compare soybased and nonsoy vegetable proteins."