Soy may be over-rated
25 Jan 2006
It appears that eating soy protein in the hope of reducing levels of LDL cholesterol is not worthwhile. The American Heart Association says a review of 22 randomised trials comparing soy protein and its component isoflavone to milk and other proteins shows that in general they produce an average drop in the levels of “bad” cholesterol of just three per cent. The researchers write in the 17 January edition of the journal Circulation that “this reduction is very small relative to the large amount of soy protein tested in these studies, averaging 50 grams, about half the usual total daily protein intake”.