Soy Diet Significantly Improves Risk of Heart Disease in Women

Women who follow a diet rich in soy prior to menopause may help protect against atherosclerosis, a risk factor for heart disease.

“This study underscores how important it is for women to get into the best cardiovascular shape they can before menopause. The healthy habits they start then will carry them through the years to come,” said Margery Gass, MD, executive director at The North American Menopause Society.

For the study, researchers fed premenopausal monkeys a diet high in protein, either from animals or high-isoflavone soybean.
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After researchers induced menopause by removing the ovaries, the animals were divided into 4 groups: 2 groups continued with either a soybeans or animal protein diet and the remaining 2 groups switched to the opposite diet from what they were following premenopause.

After a 34-month follow-up period, the results found good cholesterol levels in the subjects who consumed soy before and after menopause. Furthermore, the subjects who switched from an animal protein to soy diet after menopause showed significantly improved cholesterol levels with lower total LDL and VLDL and higher HDL.

There wasn’t any statistically significant difference in how much plaque progressed in the arteries.

In terms of total amount of artherosclerosis, subjects eating a lifelong soy diet showed less complicated plaque in the arteries. For those small, arterial plaque build-up, the switch to soy did reduce the progression of plaque in their arteries.

The complete study is published in the July issue of Menopause.

-Michelle Canales

References:

Melendez GC, Register TC, Appt SE, et al. Beneficial effects of soy supplementation on postmenopausal atherosclerosis are dependent on pretreatment stage of plaque progression. Menopause. 2014 July [epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000000307.

The North American Menopause Society (NAMS). Soy may help women’s hearts if they start early [press release]. July 30, 2014. www.menopause.org/docs/default-source/2014/timing-soy-cardiovascular-final.pdf. Accessed August 4, 2014.