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Health Food – The Truth About Soya

Posted on | October 7, 2009 | 1 Comment

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Long touted as a miracle food, soya has morphed from a vegan staple to a mainstream meal ingredient over the past three decades. Ever since 1999, when the US food and Drug Administration first allowed soya products to claim that they help to decrease cholesterol and the risk of heart disease on their packaging, sales have skyrocketed. But recently a backlash has kicked in, as numerous studies paint a less-than-rosy picture of soya and its reputation as a healthy deterrent of breast cancer, osteoporosis and other diseases.

So just what are the health perks of this legume? “Soya is a low fat protein that’s beneficial in a balanced diet,” says Leena Hilakivi-Clarke, a Georgetown University professor who has studied the link between soya and breast cancer. “Many condition-specific claims however, seem to be inflated, misinterpreted, or just not based on sound scientific studies.” Here, the record straight about the real benefits of eating soya.

Soya Prevents Heart Disease

According to a recent study from Johns Hopkins University, soya appears to play a role in lowering cholesterol in post-menopausal women. By mimicking the hormone estrogen, isoflavones (plant compounds in soya that act like weak forms of the hormone) may prevent cholesterol levels from rising in post-menopausal women. But young women produce estrogen on their own,so additional benefits from soya would likely be minimal.The explanation: Estrogen keeps cholesterol levels steady, cholesterol tends to increase after women enter menopause and no longer make this hormone.

Just because your cholesterol levels don’t plummet from eating soya doesn’t mean it won’t help your heart. Soya is a good alternative to meat because it’s lower in cholesterol-raising saturated fat. Use soya-based meat substitutes in lasagna or tofu in stir-fries occasionally, and try tofu as a replacement for cheese (also high in saturated fat).

Soya Protects Your bones

Don’t count on tofu and tempeh to strengthen your skeleton. Research in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition (one of the only studies among pre-menopausal women) revealed that women in their early 20s who took soya isoflavone suplements for one year didn’t experience any more of an increase in bone density than a group who didn’t take them. Results for older women are more promising but still mixed. An American Heart Association report found that isoflavones reduced bone loss in some research, but not in others.

Estrogen spurs the growth of certain bone cells, so isoflavones may have a greater bone-building effect on women who no longer produce the hormone. And though a study from the Archives of Internal Medicine found that post-menopausal Chinese women who ate the most soya foods were nearly 40 per cent less likely to suffer broken bones than those who ate the least, scientists caution that more research is needed to conclude that eating soya alone caused the reduction in risk.

Calcium-rich foods like low-fat dairy products are the best bone boosters for young women. The mineral isn’t abundant in most soya foods, but calcium-fortified soya milk and tofu can be good sources. Just one cup of calcium-enriched soya milk has more than30 per cent of the 1,000 mg you need daily; a half-cup of fortified tofu has about 25 per cent.

Soya Lowers Your Risk of Breast Cancer

There’s conflicting evidence as to whether women who start eating soya in adult hood will stave off cancer and keep their breasts healthy. In a recent review of 18 previously published studies, researchers couldn’t find enough proof to recommend that adult women should begin eating soya or taking supplements to reduce the chance of breast cancer. While Asian women, who eat a soya-rich diet, have a breast cancer rate one-fifth that of American and European women, scientists suspect that one key difference may be because Asian women consume a lot of soya throughout childhood. The estrogen-like qualities of isoflavones may cause changes to breast tissue that make it less susceptible to developing into cancer later in life.

However, some scientists believe that consuming too much soya or isoflavones may be harmful to women who are at a higher risk of getting cancer. Studies have shown that large doses of isoflavones may trigger changes in estrogen-responsive breast tumor, which grow in the presence of the hormone.

While the occasional tofu-based meal is harmless, most researchers agree that women at risk of breast cancer, including those with a family history of the disease, should steer clear of isoflavone supplements.

Soya Makes You Smarter

The jury’s still out. Some animal studies have shown that estrogen enhances the connections between brain cells, improving memory and problem-solving skills, and soya’s estrogen-like properties might produce similar brain-boosting results. But the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality examined nearly 180 studies on soya and didn’t discover any significant positive effects on brain function.

If you really want to jump-start your brain, carve out time for sleep and exercise. Several studies indicate that getting more than seven hours of slumber a night and hitting the gym frequently help keep your mind sharp.

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Category: Breast Cancer, Healthy Food
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Comments

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