High Amounts Of Soy Linked To A Reduced Risk Of Heart Attack And Stroke

The journal Circulation published the results of a study which found consuming high amounts of soy isoflavones linked to a reduced risk of heart attack and stroke among women.

The current research included 40,462 men and women between the ages of 40 and 59 who participated in the Japan Public Health Center-Based Study. Subjects were free of cardiovascular disease and cancer upon enrollment between 1990 and 1992. Dietary questionnaires completed at the beginning of the study were analyzed by the investigators for soy and total isoflavone intake. Participants were followed through 2002, and fatal and nonfatal cases of stroke and heart attack documented.

Over the 12.5 average follow-up, there were 587 cerebral infarctions (type of stroke) and 308 myocardial infarctions. Among women, soy intake greater than or equal to five times per week lowered the risk of stroke by 36 percent, heart attack by 45 percent , and cardiovascular disease mortality by 69 percent compared with risks experienced by those whose intake was two or fewer times per week. When isoflavone intake was examined, women whose intake was highest had a 65 percent lower stroke risk, a 63 percent reduction in the risk of heart attack, and cardiovascular mortality was reduced by 13percent. Soy appeared to be particularly protective for postmenopausal women. No significant associations with soy were observed in men.

The authors hypothesize that soy isoflavones, which have a structure similar to estrogens and bind to the estrogen receptor, may exert a greater benefit on postmenopausal women because their estrogen receptors are not occupied with plasma estradiol. "Our results suggest that the consumption of dietary isoflavones may be beneficial to postmenopausal women for the prevention of ischemic cardiovascular disease," they conclude.