The Role of Dietary Supplements in Modulating Menopause Onset: A Comprehensive Analysis of Nutritional and Lifestyle Influences on Menopause Timing

Abstract

Background: The age at natural menopause (ANM) has a significant impact on women’s health later in life, although the contribution of changeable dietary and lifestyle factors remains uncertain. Methods: We examined data from 3566 participants in the UK Women’s Cohort Study, assessing their baseline use of dietary supplements and lifestyle habits. Associations with ANM were evaluated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models and gradient boosting machine (GBM) analyses. We adjusted our models for factors such as BMI, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity levels, and socioeconomic status. Results: The use of fish oil (HR 0.05; 95% CI 0.02–0.09), vitamin B-complex (HR 0.48; 0.38–0.62), antioxidant mixtures (HR 0.54; 0.38–0.69), and vitamin C (HR 0.75; 0.56–0.93) was linked to a delay in ANM, with all p-values less than 0.05. Folic acid showed near significance (HR 0.81; p = 0.059). GBM analyses highlighted red meat consumption, BMI, educational level, smoking duration, and fish consumption as important indicators. Conclusions: The regular consumption of certain supplements has a connection to later menopause onset, while smoking and red meat consumption tend to predict an earlier onset. These findings underline the potential of lifestyle changes in managing reproductive aging, although further interventional studies are necessary to confirm them.