Grin and bean it

Not all forms of soy are tasty, but they’re all good for you, say scientists from China, a major soy-eating nation.

There is enough material out there about the goodness of soy. But would you take your breakfast cereal with soy milk? Not everyone agrees to liberally sprinkling soy chunks in whatever you cook, regardless of the goodness. But here is a bit of research that says it is best to grin and bear with the humble soybean and probably also add it to your list of dietary supplements.

The Chinese are among the largest consumers of soy in the world, and it is fitting that this study came from the University of Hong Kong. Researchers there have found that a chemical found in soybeans and chickpeas has a definite benefit for people who have suffered a stroke, and thus it has knock-on benefits for the everyday consumer too.

The chemical found in the two legumes is isoflavone. The scientists say it has treatment effects comparable to cholesterol-busting statin drugs. It was already known that isoflavone helps improve blood flow through the arteries, and that eating soy may help in preventing breast and prostate cancer and in reducing cholesterol, thus lowering cardiovascular-disease risk.

But this is the first study where the patients were given isoflavone extracted from soy as a dietary supplement. All of the 102 patients had suffered a first or recurrent ischaemic stroke, caused by blood clots, in the previous six months, and had established heart disease.

According to lead researcher Professor Hung-Fat Tse, in patients given the supplement, the brachial artery in the arm dilated in response to an increase in blood flow. That is said to be an indicator of the functioning of the cells that line the inner surface of blood vessels — the endothelium — which are implicated in cardiovascular disease.

Stroke patients always risk recurrence simply because artery function and blood flow is impaired. Thus, the study is said to have important clinical implications. Isoflavone is a major class of phytoestrogens, naturally occurring chemicals that mimic the effect of the human hormone oestrogen. And oestrogen is known to protect against heart disease.

But Professor Tse advises caution and says it is too early to recommend the use of isoflavone supplements, because their effects when administered directly need to be studied more. For now, though, he rather prefers that you stick to the unpleasantness of adding more soy to your diet.