Effect Of Soya On Cholesterol.

Here we go again. More studies and reports on the Soya. Please refer to my earlier post on September 22,(under Health), "Soya - Good or Bad for Health". 

The claim: Soya can lower cholesterol

The facts: Soya foods have been credited with all sorts of health benefits, but perhaps none as appealing as this assertion.

              The notion was cemented in 1999, when the United States Food and Drug Administration allowed companies to claim that 25g of soya protein a day, in a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, “may reduce the risk of heart disease”. The agency evaluated studies and concluded that soya protein could cut cholesterol.

               However, studies since have raised doubts. In 2006, an American Heart Association advisory panel reviewed a decade of studies and determined that soya products had no significant effects on “good” cholesterol or HDL, or triglycerides (fat in the blood), and little or no ability to lower “bad” cholesterol or LDL.

               Another study, published in August in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that consuming 24g of soya protein daily had no “significant effect on plasma LDL” in people with mildly elevated cholesterol.

               However, another line of research shows that soya seems to help when combined with foods low in fat and high in fibre.

The bottom line: There is evidence soya can improve cholesterol, but the jury is still out.

- The New York Times