More Evidence that Soy Helps Lower Cholesterol

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More Evidence that Soy Helps Lower Cholesterol

Differences in rates of cardiovascular disease and associated deaths between Pacific Rim and Western countries have been attributed to differences in diet. Asian populations in Pacific Rim countries consume 30-50 times more soy protein than their Western counterparts.

It has been postulated that isoflavones may account for these differences; isoflavones naturally present in soy products have been shown to reduce cholesterol levels in previous studies.

To further investigate this potential relationship, a nine-week trial involving 156 moderately hypercholesterolemic men and women (20-70 years of age) compared the effects of isolated soy protein vs. casein (milk) protein on plasma lipid/lipoprotein concentrations. Subjects were divided into five diet groups, taking 25 grams of casein protein or 25 grams of soy protein (containing 3, 27, 37, or 62 mg of isoflavones) daily.

Compared with casein, isolated soy protein with 62 mg of isoflavones lowered total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels by 4% and 6%, respectively. For patients with higher LDL levels, the reductions were 9% and 10%, respectively. Furthermore, soy protein appeared to lower total cholesterol and LDL levels without impacting high density lipoprotein (HDL) levels.

The authors suggest that further research should be conducted to define which of the many component isoflavones in isolated soy protein may contribute to this cholesterol-lowering effect.

Crouse JR III, Morgan T, Terry JG, et al. A randomized trial comparing the effect of casein with that of soy protein containing varying amounts of isoflavones on plasma concentrations of lipids and lipoproteins. Archives of Internal Medicine 1999:159, pp2070-76.