Menopause in Korea: Tradition, Diet, and the Modern Shift
In Korean, the traditional word for menopause is pyegyeong. It means, roughly, the closing of menstruation. An ending.
A newer word is quietly taking its place: wangyeong. It means completion. Not something shutting down, but something finished, whole, arrived.
That change in language is small, but it is telling. It reflects a culture that has long treated this stage as a passage to move through with care, supported by food and traditional medicine, rather than a problem to be corrected.
Menopause in Korea, traditionally called pyegyeong ("closing") and increasingly wangyeong ("completion"), is shaped by a diet rich in fermented soy and by hanbang, Korea's traditional herbal medicine, both of which frame the transition as something to support rather than to treat.
Key takeaways
- Korean culture is shifting the language of menopause from "closing" toward "completion," reflecting a supportive rather than a deficit view.
- Fermented soy foods like doenjang are a daily staple, and the isoflavones in soy are tied to the transition.
- About 50 to 60% of adults in Asian countries can produce equol, a compound that makes soy more active, versus roughly 25 to 30% in the West.
- Hanbang, traditional Korean medicine, shares roots with Traditional Chinese Medicine and treats the transition with herbal formulas aimed at restoring balance.
What Koreans call menopause, and why it is changing
Language shapes how a whole culture meets an experience. In Korea, the word for menopause is moving from "closing" to "completion."
Pyegyeong, the older term, frames the end of periods as a cessation. Wangyeong, promoted by Korean women's health advocates and doctors, reframes the same event as an accomplishment, a life stage completed. It is closer to the idea of a "second spring" found across East Asian traditions.
This is not just wordplay. When a culture names something as completion rather than loss, women tend to carry a more positive attitude into the transition. And attitude matters more than it sounds, as we will see below.
The Korean diet: fermented soy and the equol difference
The Korean table is built on fermented soy, and soy carries plant compounds that interact gently with the body's estrogen receptors.
Foods like doenjang (fermented soybean paste), cheonggukjang, and tofu appear in daily Korean meals. Soy is rich in isoflavones, plant compounds that can weakly mimic estrogen in the body. As estrogen declines in the transition, this gentle activity is one reason researchers study soy for symptom support.
There is a twist that makes soy work better for some people than others. Certain gut bacteria convert a soy isoflavone into a more active compound called equol. About 50 to 60% of adults in Asian countries can make equol, compared with roughly 25 to 30% in Western populations. The difference comes largely from lifelong, soy-rich diets that cultivate the right gut bacteria.
Source: Soy isoflavones, Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University
Fermentation may add another layer. In an 8-week randomized, double-blind trial in postmenopausal women, traditionally fermented doenjang reduced menopausal symptom scores, with the traditional version outperforming a commercial one. The researchers also saw favorable shifts in gut bacteria and cholesterol.
We go deeper on this in soy isoflavones for menopause: the S-equol connection and in menopause in Japan: konenki, soy, and the equol difference.
Hanbang: Korea's traditional herbal approach
Hanbang is traditional Korean medicine, and it treats the transition with herbal formulas meant to restore the body's balance rather than replace a single hormone.
Hanbang shares deep roots with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the centuries-old system that views health as smooth flow and balance across the body. In both traditions, the peri/menopause transition is seen as a natural shift in the body's internal rhythm, and herbal formulas are used to support that shift, ease tension, and steady mood and sleep.
This is the same lineage behind The Shift. The Shift is Project M's daily herbal protocol for perimenopause and menopause, built on a 600-year-old TCM formula and adapted for the stressed modern woman. You can find it here. The point is not that any one country owns this wisdom, but that across Korea, China, and Japan, herbal support has been the standard alongside conventional care for a very long time.
The modern shift in Korea
Korea today blends its traditions with modern medicine, and attitudes are changing fast.
Korean women increasingly use conventional options like hormone therapy, see gynecologists, and talk more openly about symptoms that older generations kept private. At the same time, fermented foods and hanbang remain part of daily life. The result is a both-and culture: modern medicine and traditional support, used together rather than as rivals.
There is a lesson in that for Western women. The Korean model does not treat "medicine" and "herbs" as opposites. It uses each for what it does well. That is exactly how we think about The Shift alongside conventional care.
Western versus Korean framing of menopause
The contrast is less about biology, which is universal, and more about how the transition is named and met.
| Common Western framing | Traditional Korean framing | |
|---|---|---|
| The word | "The change," often with dread | Moving from pyegyeong ("closing") to wangyeong ("completion") |
| The view | A decline to be managed | A natural passage to support |
| First tool | A prescription | Food, then herbs, alongside medicine |
| Diet | Not central to the conversation | Fermented soy as a daily staple |
| Herbs | Seen as separate from medicine | Hanbang used alongside conventional care |
Frequently asked questions
Do Korean women have fewer menopause symptoms?
The evidence is mixed, and lifestyle matters more than any single factor. Some studies suggest lower reporting of certain symptoms like hot flashes in East Asian women, which researchers link partly to soy-rich diets and higher equol production. But reporting is also shaped by culture and language. What is clearer is that a soy-rich, plant-forward diet and a supportive cultural view are both associated with an easier experience.
What is doenjang and does it help menopause?
Doenjang is a traditional Korean fermented soybean paste, used daily in soups and stews. In a randomized trial, traditionally fermented doenjang lowered menopausal symptom scores in postmenopausal women, along with favorable changes in gut bacteria and cholesterol. Its benefit is tied to soy isoflavones and the effects of fermentation, though it is one part of an overall diet, not a standalone answer.
What is hanbang?
Hanbang is traditional Korean medicine. It shares roots with Traditional Chinese Medicine and uses herbal formulas, acupuncture, and dietary guidance to restore the body's balance. For the peri/menopause transition, hanbang focuses on supporting the body's natural rhythm rather than replacing a single hormone.
Can I get the benefits of the Korean diet if I did not grow up eating soy?
Partly. You can add fermented soy foods like tofu, miso, and doenjang to your meals at any age. The catch is equol: whether your gut converts soy into its more active form depends on your gut bacteria, which are shaped by years of diet. You may still get benefits from soy without being an equol producer, just possibly less pronounced ones.
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Read next
- Menopause in Japan: konenki, soy, and the equol difference
- Soy isoflavones for menopause: the S-equol connection
- TCM for menopause: how Chinese medicine approaches the transition
- TCM foods and diet for menopause: eating for the transition
- What is perimenopause: symptoms, stages, and timeline
Sources
- Soy isoflavones, Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University
- The efficacy of Cheonggukjang and Doenjang in menopausal syndrome and the gut microbiome, randomized trial (Nutrients, 2025)
- Association of diet with menopausal symptoms in Korean middle-aged women (PubMed)
- Project M consumer research study results
