• N Takatsuka, C Nagata, Y Kurisu, S Inaba, N Kawakami, and H Shimizu.
• Department of Public Health, Gifu University School of Medicine, 40 Tsukasa-machi, Gifu 500-8705, Japan. naoyoshi@cc.gifu-u.ac.jp
• Prev Med. 2000 Oct 1; 31 (4): 308314308-14.

BackgroundThe hypocholesterolemic effect of soy protein concentrates on normolipidemic subjects still remains unclear. Our objective is to assess the effect of soymilk supplementation, a whole soy product, with usual diet on serum lipids in normolipidemic subjects.MethodsWe conducted a randomized controlled trial on 60 premenopausal normolipidemic Japanese women. After excluding 8 subjects whose initial serum concentration of total cholesterol or triacylglycerol was higher than 220 mg/dL (5.69 mmol/L) or 160 mg/dL (1.81 mmol/L), respectively, we encouraged the subjects in the soymilk-supplemented group (n = 27) to consume 400 mL (408 g) of commercial regular soymilk daily during two menstrual cycles. There were no significant differences in variables, including nutrient intake, between the soymilk-supplemented and control (n = 25) groups before the intervention.ResultsAfter the trial, we observed a significant decrease of 10.9 mg/dL, or 5.3%, in serum concentration of total cholesterol in the soymilk-supplemented group. During the intervention, nutrient intake assessment showed significant increases in nutrient densities of vitamin E, polyunsaturated fatty acids, isoflavones, and P/S ratio and decreases in total energy and nutrient densities of vitamin C and green tea in this group. A statistically significant decrease in serum total cholesterol could still be observed even after excluding the estimated hypocholesterolemic effects of soymilk's polyunsaturated fatty acids.ConclusionsOur results suggest the hypocholesterolemic effect of soymilk, a traditional whole soy product, in Asian countries in normolipidemic subjects.Copyright 2000 American Health Foundation and Academic Press.

15 keywords...

hide…