Eat Your Soy

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washingtonpost.com

Eat Your Soy, Boy

By Sally Squires

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, May 4, 2004; Page HE01

Yes, it's true that your wife, girlfriend or significant other has

been eating a lot of soy lately, mainly to boost her female

hormones. That doesn't mean it's bad for you, fella. Instead of

pushing aside that soy milk, go ahead and pour some on your morning

cereal. Dig into the soy burgers at the office cafeteria and the

tofu that appears in your takeout stir-fry.

It turns out that soy, at least in the doses most people will

consume it in food, may be good for guys, too. A growing number of

studies suggest that soy has plenty of health benefits for men --

from lowering cholesterol levels to protecting against prostate

cancer -- and few downsides.

" Real men should eat soy, " said Setchell, professor of

pediatrics at the Cincinnati Children's Medical Center, who has

studied soy for 30 years. " Generally, men are put off by soy. It

tends to be sort of a woman's thing. That's a great pity, because

the evidence that soy protects against prostate cancer is quite

strong. "

While there have been worries that men who consume large quantities

of low-carb soy bread, soy cereal or other soy-filled foods may get

a little too in touch with their feminine sides, research findings

have generally not borne out those fears.

" Soy is a very healthy food, " said physician , who has

studied soy for 15 years at the University of Kentucky in Lexington

and is convinced enough of its benefits to eat about a dozen

servings of soy per week. " It's very safe. "

Most concerns about soy have centered around the fact that it is a

rich source of isoflavones, substances that mimic the effects of the

female hormone estrogen. To determine what these plant-based

chemicals might do, Zeisel and his colleagues at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill fed megadoses of soy to

men as part of a recent National Cancer Institute study.

Nipple discharge, breast enlargement and slight decreases in

testosterone occurred with the megadoses. But " we still couldn't

find anything that was serious, and we went up to doses that are

probably 30 times what you could get from normal foods, " Zeisel

said. " I don't think that there are a lot of estrogenic worries.

Your testicles will not shrink and you won't have massive breast

enlargement " from eating soy.

And if you stick with foods rich in soy as opposed to supplements,

researchers say, there's no evidence of harm, unless you happen to

be among the one in every 1,000 people who are allergic to

soy. " It's quite difficult to overconsume soy, to be honest, " said

Setchell.

Not only is soy a rich source of high-quality protein, but it also

contains complex carbohydrates that don't raise blood sugar as high

as more processed carbohydrates. It has fiber, folic acid (a key B

vitamin), healthy fat and antioxidants that help protect against

cancer.

There's also evidence that soy acts as a probiotic in some people,

promoting growth of healthy bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract

that in turn produce health-promoting substances. While it's

possible these days to eat soy at every meal and snack, it only

takes a small amount of soy to produce health benefits. Less than a

handful of soy nuts, about a fifth of a cup, provides 12 grams of

protein, said , who keeps a stash near his desk for

snacks. " If you can eat a third of a cup a day, that would give good

protective levels in terms of heart disease. "

Will such soy-filled products as low-carb bread, soy cereal, soy

crackers and cookies have the same benefits as traditional soy

sources?

" My feeling is that soy milk and tofu have the best test of time, "

said , professor and chairman of nutrition and

metabolism at the University of Toronto and St. 's Hospital

in Toronto. The soy isolates found in meatless burgers and hot

dogs " have also been shown to be very effective, " said. By

contrast, soy sauce has only minimal levels of active soy

ingredients and comes with massive amounts of sodium.

Just resist any urge to eat raw soy. Uncooked soybeans contain a

substance that inhibits trypsin, a key enzyme required for protein

digestion. " Horses who eat raw soybeans die, " said Zeisel. While raw

soybeans may not be as deadly for humans as they are for horses,

Zeisel said it's not worth the risk: " Don't ever eat soybeans raw. "

Here's how cooked soy stacks up in health benefits:

Bone health Studies suggest that soy helps preserve bone and may

help build it in some people. While nearly all the research has been

done in women, who suffer more extreme bone loss with age than do

men, researchers say there's no reason to suggest that soy may not

also help protect older men from osteoporosis.

Blood pressure Soy appears to lower blood pressure slightly. It also

seems to lower blood pressure by " improving elasticity of blood

vessels, " Setchell said.

Cholesterol Since 1999, foods containing 6.25 grams of soy protein

per serving can be promoted for their ability to lower blood

cholesterol when combined with a diet low in saturated fat and

cholesterol. About 25 grams of soy protein daily helps lower the

most damaging form of blood cholesterol -- low-density lipoprotein

(LDL) -- by up to about10 percent and total cholesterol by up to 7

percent, according to . There's also evidence that blood

triglyceride levels rise less after a meal containing soy and that

eating a diet rich in soy may help reduce the metabolic syndrome --

a constellation of symptoms that include elevated cholesterol, blood

pressure and extra fat at the waistline.

Colon cancer A few studies suggest that soy may help protect against

colon cancer, but the evidence is still emerging.

Diabetes Soy contains healthy carbohydrates with a low glycemic

index, meaning they are less likely than more-processed carbs to

raise blood sugar levels. New research also suggests that eating soy

food appears to help protect the kidneys of those with diabetes,

especially those with type 1.

Studies in Europe and at the University of Illinois also suggest

that soy helps reduce protein in the urine of people with diabetes,

which can help reduce kidney damage, a common complication of

diabetes.

Hair loss Soy helps boost production in the intestines of equol, a

substance that binds to dihydrotestosterone, the chief culprit in

causing hair follicles to die. Although still in early

investigation, Setchell and other researchers theorize that boosting

equol could help protect against baldness.

Muscles As a protein source, soy ranks at the top of the list. But

no need to take massive doses of soy protein supplements or powder

to build more muscle. Eating a soy burger, a handful of soy nuts or

a soy smoothie after a weight training session is plenty to help

repair muscle, according to Jeff Potteiger, an exercise physiologist

at Miami University in Ohio.

Prostate In Asian countries, where soy consumption is high,

incidence of prostate cancer is similar to that in Western

countries, but the disease is much less likely to kill. Studies of

Seventh-Day Adventists, who eat no meat, have found that drinking

one glass per day of soy milk appears to lower prostate cancer risk

by 30 percent; two glasses per day may lower risk by up to 70

percent. At the University of North Carolina, researchers found men

with elevated blood levels of prostate-specific antigens (PSA) who

took megadoses of soy showed a significant slowing in rise of the

PSA.

Waistline Soy foods are lower in calories, total fat and saturated

fat than comparable meat products, and they have zero cholesterol --

all benefits that can help protect against obesity. There's also

some evidence that soy may help reduce buildup of dangerous visceral

abdominal body fat, according to .

For that reason, some soy researchers, including , Setchell,

and Zeisel, say they're putting their findings into practice

by pouring soy milk on their cereal, snacking on soy bars and eating

a soyburger instead of a hamburger. Example: A beef burger has about

190 calories, 11 grams of fat, four grams of saturated fat, zero

carbs and no fiber, while a soyburger contains 50 fewer calories, a

third of the fat, 10 grams of carbohydrates, three grams