There's been much attention devoted to the health benefits of soy for women. Now a recent study from the UK concludes that men can also benefit from increased soy consumption.
Besides helping fight heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and diabetes, soy appears to have a positive effect on male hormone-related cancers, such as prostate cancer. That conclusion was reached by a recent study published in the British Journal of Nutrition.
The British study echoed another study of Seventh Day Adventists in California that found that men who regularly drank at least one cup of soymilk a day, reduced their risk for prostate cancer by 70 percent. According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the United States, besides cancers of the skin.
Researchers believe that the isoflavones found in soybeans and soy foods can be helpful in treating a variety of health condition. In particular isoflavanones, are not only an effective antioxidant, they also have been shown to inhibit the enzymes that stimulate prostate cell growth.
Soy also reduces cholesterol levels and protects against heart disease and cancer according to a number of studies. (Note the effects of a high-soy diet and soy extracts with isoflavones on breast cancer risk are still not clear).
Soy protein products are good substitutes for animal products. Soy, in contrast to some other beans, offers a "complete" protein profile. Soybeans contain all the amino acids essential to human nutrition, which must be supplied in the diet as they cannot be synthesized by the human body. Soy protein products can replace animal-based foods--which also have complete proteins but tend to contain more fat, especially saturated fat--without requiring major adjustments elsewhere in the diet.
