The most recent findings on soy and isoflavones were presented in Washington DC on the occasion of the 9th International Symposium on the Role of Soy in Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention and Treatment (October 16-19, 2010). A major part of the topics was dedicated to safety and health benefits in menopausal women, and to the issue of soy and breast cancer.
Dr. Claire E. Berryman and Dr. Linda Wang (Pennsylvania State University, USA) supported the observation of an LDL-lowering effect of soy protein by applying a mathematical model of risk reduction (Berryman et al. 2010). Substitution of 13-50 g of animal protein in a typical American diet resulted in a decrease of saturated fat (12.1 g) and an increase of unsaturated fatty acids (4.9 g). In the model calculation these changes should induce a 0.11 mg/dl decrease in LDL for each substituted gram of animal protein, which should translate into LDL reductions of up to 6 % with the higher soy protein doses, thus reflecting values which are clinically confirmed.
References
Berryman CE and Wang L (2010). Soy protein decreases low-density lipoprotein cholesterol by a food displacement mechanism: An exercise in dietary modeling. 9th International Symposium on the Role of Soy in Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention and Treatment, Washington DC, 16-19 October.
Clinical effects 