For those of you that read my blog post on soy a few weeks ago and still think I’m off my rocker and being paid under the table by the soy growers association, I present exhibit B.
With the usual caveats of non-processed and non-GMO soy, the research is overwhelmingly in support of soy as part of a healthy lifestyle. I’ve read the arguments stating that soy was only recently introduced into the human diet maybe 75 years ago, but much like all the other misconceptions about soy, this is untrue and, in this case, the authors are only maybe 5,000 years off (and, in the timeframes of the universe as well as carbon dating techniques, this is merely a rounding error).
In this particular study, authors looked at the ability of genistein (the protective isoflavone found in soy) to help improve prediabetes. 120 women with prediabetes were given 54 mg genistein (about the amount found in a serving of soy) for 1 year. Here’s what they found:
- With genistein use, fasting glucose and fasting insulin dropped.
- HDL-C increased an average of 10 mg/dL.
- Increased adiponectin levels (an anti-diabetic hormone produced by the fat cells).
- Decreased total cholesterol, LDL-C down 30 points, triglycerides and visfatin (another fat derived hormone that drives inflammation and chronic disease).
- Homocysteine levels dropped as well (an amino acid linked to heart disease and stroke).
- Systolic and diastolic blood pressure was also reduced.
To top it all off, genistein users complained of no more side adverse effects than the non-users in the study and did not discontinue the study at any different rate.
Looking at the drop in LDL cholesterol and triglycerides coupled with the increase in HDL, the risk of heart disease is going to plummet with this as well.
Compare this to statins, the wonder drug that I love so much, which ONLY effects one single blood marker (LDL) and will actually LOWER HDL. So, a drug with loads of side effects (which can be perused ad nauseam in my eBook, which can be found on the eBooks page by clicking here) that has almost no effects on heart disease or stroke rates is not even in the same ballpark as a serving of soy at protecting your heart.
Much life the proverbial death match between the HR Block accountant and the ninja warrior. Too bad the accountant has billions of dollars backing him up.