Heart Disease

Although women of childbearing age have lower heart disease rates than men, those rates increase after menopause. Soyfoods may play a role in helping to reduce risk of heart disease. Besides being low in saturated fat and cholesterol-free, the protein in soyfoods has been shown to reduce cholesterol levels. A dose response relationship exists; higher amounts of soy protein increase the effects.(16) Soy protein is also primarily effective in patients with high cholesterol levels (>240 mg.dl).(16) Although 25 grams of soy protein has been found to produce decreases in cholesterol levels, as much as 40 grams of soy protein - or the amount in three to four servings of soyfoods - is needed to produce larger effects.(17)

Soy may also offer protection because of its antioxidant activity. A recent human study found that soy inhibited LDL-cholesterol oxidation.(1) Decreased cholesterol oxidation may be extremely important for decreasing heart disease risk. Finally, the isoflavone genistein inhibits platelet aggregation and smooth muscle cell proliferation in vitro.(1,2) Thus, soy intake may reduce clot formation and plaque development.

Eat well and be well!

References

1. Kanazawa T, Osanai T, Zhang X-S, et al. J Nutr 125 (suppl), 639S-646S, 1995.

2. Murphy, CT Kellie S. Westwick J. Eur J Biochem, 1993, 216, 639-651.

3. Hollenberg MD. TIPS, 1994, 15, 108-114.

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Marlon Wade

Staff Writer

Café Soy, LLC

info@cafesoy.com

http://www.cafesoy.com

"We make good taste a healthy habit."

How to stop heart disease

You may have heard of the Dutch study, called the Leiden Intervention Trial, in which 35 men and 4 women with at least one constricted coronary artery of 50 percent or more due to heart disease, which showed clearly that heart disease can be stopped for some people through a low-cholesterol diet.

How’d they do that, you ask. By eating a vegetarian diet for two years with less than 100 milligrams of cholesterol a day and by eating double the amount of polyunsaturated fat than saturated fat. For 46 percent of the study participants at the end, arterial disease had not progressed at all. For the 46 percent which saw a halt in the progression of coronary disease, lower cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels was the key. The participants with higher cholesterol/HDLs did not see a stop in the progression of their heart disease.

The next time you’re tempted to buy or consume some genetically modified food, remember this if you are 20 years of age or higher.

Eat well and be well!

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Marlon Wade
Staff Writer
Café Soy, LLC
info@cafesoy.com
http://www.cafesoy.com
"We make good taste a healthy habit."