burcon blog

Written by Marina M.

On Monday Sept 26, 2011

A new study indicates that postmenopausal women who consume a diet rich in soy protein reduces atherosclerosis by 16%.  The reduction jumps to 68% for women who experienced menopause within the past five years.

At the University of South Carolina, researchers conducted the study on 350 postmenopausal women between the ages of 45-92 years.  All the participants either consumed a daily dose of 25g of isoflavone-containing soy protein or a placebo.  Researchers found that women who consumed a daily dose of soy protein with isoflavone significantly lowered the progression of atherosclerosis.  This study is consistent with the literature on the health benefits of soy protein of the past decade and provides a ‘window of opportunity’ for postmenopausal women to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.

Studies on the health benefits of soy protein continue to emerge.  This particular study focused on postmenopausal women who did not have diabetes or heart disease.  Not only did the study results indicate a reduction in atherosclerosis but the researchers found a significant increase in HDL or ‘good’ cholesterol in participants consuming soy protein.

Consuming soy protein is a great way to obtain the essential amino acids from diet, maintain satiety for healthy weight management, reduce bad cholesterol and as this study indicates, reducing the risks of coronary heart disease.  It’s also a sustainable source of protein.  Win-win for everybody.