LE SOJA
Des données sérieuses ?
DES EFFETS CARDIOPROTECTEURS

S'appuyant sur des érudes sérieuses (02/2000), la FAD vient d'autoriser un label indiquant les effets cardi-protecteurs pour les produits à base de soja .
La FDA a reconnu que la consommation de 25 g de protéines de soja par jour, entraine une baisse significative du LDL-cholestérol.
Cet effet bénéfique serait du à sa richesse en isoflavones - hormone végétale qui possèdent des analogies structurales avec les oestrogènes. De ce fait, d'autres effets préventifs peuvent être attendus dans le traitement de la ménopause et la lute contre l'ostéoporose.

MENOPAUSE : THE SOY SOLUTION

Voir également : Phytoestrogènes. beaucoup d'incertitudes [Lire]

Soybeans just became the mature woman's new best friend. In September researchers at the University of Illinois in Urbana found that plant estrogens in soybeans strengthen the lumbar spine, helping to prevent the dowager's hump often caused by osteoporosis.
When women ate a couple of ounces of soy protein a day containing 92 milligrams of phytoestrogens called isoflavones, they increased their spines' bone density by 2.2 percent over six months. That may not sound like much, but most women actually lose 2 to 3 percent of their bone mass in the first few years after menopause.

"This is incredibly encouraging and surprising," says John Erdman, Jr., director of the university's nutritional sciences department. "The most we were hoping for was slower bone loss." Perhaps equally important, the women who ate soy protein saw an 8 percent drop in their low-density lipoprotein, or "bad" cholesterol. This dip will likely lower their risk of heart disease. The good news about soy should particularly hearten women at risk for breast cancer. Synthetic estrogen prescribed by doctors builds bone density and lowers cholesterol but may also slightly increase the odds of getting breast cancer. Soy isoflavones, on the other hand, seem to block estrogen's effect on breast tissue while delivering its benefits to the spine and the heart. Indeed, breast cancer is four times less common among Japanese women, who eat a lot of soy, than it is among women in the United States.

Soy isn't without its drawbacks. Women in the study showed no greater bone density in their hips -- something that estrogen provides. And getting high levels of isoflavones from food is nearly impossible. A woman would have to eat a pound of tofu every day to match the amount that women in the study got from mixing just two ounces of enriched protein into their food

But Erdman says the wonder bean provides a genuine alternative for women who are not comfortable taking estrogen. Already, he reports, several large food companies have expressed interest in manufacturing soy-fortified drinks, candies, and muffins. Until then, Nutritious Foods, the firm that makes the soy protein that the researchers used, sells powder enriched with extra isoflavones, which women can blend into drinks or sprinkle over cereal.