Benefits of Soy

David Thai

Benefits of Soy

It is said Soy has many nutritional benefits when it comes to males and females. The many compounds it provides for us are known to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer (web 1). These are just a couple of the main benefits, there are also many other benefits relating to the usage of Soy. For decades, Soy has only been found in health food stores like GNC. Many “normal” food eaters have also laughed at the ones who have a considerable amount of Soy intake. That seems to be changing now since new researches are finding many other nutritional benefits.

So what is Soy and where did it come from? The soybean is a legume, also known as Glycine max. The United States is the largest grower of soybeans (50 percent of the world crop). It is not known in the wild and is believed to have been created through cultivation from Glycine ussuriensis, a wild Asian wine (web 2). The soybean was considered one of five sacred grains (along with rice, barely, wheat and millet). Growing may be intolerable in cold locations since it cannot tolerate frost. But other than that, soybeans can be grown in most soils, plants mature in 75 to 200 days.

A study conducted at the Brighton Medical Clinic in Victoria, Australia showed that women who were given 1-1/2 ounces of soy flour every day for 3 months lowered the occurrence of hot flashes by 40% (web 1). Hot flashes are a symptom that occurs during menopause, over 80% of women experience this. The healing agents in soy are phytoestrogens, which can block the negative effects of natural estrogen. By blocking overproduction of estrogen, which is thought to cause breast tumors, Soy can lower the overall risk of breast cancer.

In the article Nutrition Health Review, they state that men can also benefit from Soy. Much attention has been given to how women can benefit from the healthful properties of soy, but new research reveals that men should incorporate soy into their diets as well. In November 2001, researchers from around the world shared their research results at the Fourth International Symposium on the Role of Soy in Preventing and Treating Chronic Disease, in San Diego. Among their key findings: Soy may help slow growth of prostate cancer cells and stabilize the disease in diagnosed patients, and it may reduce blood pressure, which leads to heart disease risk. According to 2001 statistics, prostate cancer is the second largest cause of cancer-related deaths in men. With this thriving new research, I am sure soy consumptions will definitely increase dramatically.

Besides disease fighting benefits of Soy, studies have also found it to benefit cognitive function. Animal studies and three short-term human trials have found that soyfoods and isoflavones exert beneficial effects on several aspects of cognition and memory (article #2). During a recent study, the results indicated that men can show cognitive benefits from a high soy diet. It was a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, using both males and females who had high soy in their diets. In the end both men and women who had high soy diets showed significantly greater improvements in memory (immediate recall of a story, short-term recognition of patterns, delayed picture recall) and in a task measuring frontal lobe function. Although research does show that Soy does provide these benefits, they