Soy and Human Health

• The Astonishing Functional Food: Soy Protein and Soy Constituents
• Soy Protein and Coronary Heart Disease
• Soy and Digestive Tract Health
• Soy Foods in Chronic Renal Disease
• How Can Soy Help Diabetes?
• Soy Protein Enhances Energy, Stamina and Sport Performance
• Soy and Cancers
• Soy and Breast Cancer
• Soy and Menopausal Symptoms
• Soy and Pre-Menstrual Syndromes
• Soy and Bone Health
• Losing Weight Healthily with Soy
• Soy and Urological Cancer
• Soy Lecithin and Human Health
• Clinical Abstracts on Soy
• Soy Clinical Reviews in Reputable Medical Journals: 1995-2002

Soy and Pre-Menstrual Syndromes

Menstrual cramps. Irritability. Mood swings. Fatigue. Headaches. Food cravings. Bloating.

Many women are all too familiar with these recurring monthly symptoms that can temporarily cripple their lives at worst, or simply make them miserable at best.

Pre-Menstrual Syndrome, commonly referred to as PMS, afflicts millions of women. Doctors have resorted to trying everything from prescription hormones to sedatives and anti-depressants to control PMS. Uncontrolled, high estrogen levels in a woman's body have been linked to PMS.

How can a woman control these high estrogen levels?

Soy protein can balance high estrogen levels, thus reducing PMS symptoms, menstrual difficulties, endometriosis, fibroid-related complaints and other conditions associated with high estrogen levels. Studies show that women who consume soy protein significantly lower their estrogen levels to much healthier levels. (1, 2 and 3) Daily consumption for 3 to 6 months is typically required to start seeing these benefits. Your body has to "reset" to more balanced estrogen levels. Another recent study shows that soy can also improve mental outlook, which could reduce mood swings. (4)

A tremendous additional benefit may also be obtained by consuming soy protein: Lower levels of the body's own estrogen are also associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer.

A number of independent studies on small groups of American women have shown that women who consume soy protein have lower levels of estrogen in their blood. It's been known for years that Asian women on a high soy protein diet have lower estrogen levels than their American counterparts. Researchers are extremely interested in this difference because Asians also have 4 to 6 times less breast cancer than Americans.

New scientific research in Texas has found that a soy diet rich in isoflavones reduces estrogens in women, "and this may be involved in soya-induced protection against breast cancer risk." Dr. Lee-Jane W. Lu, of the University of Texas medical branch in Galveston, reports on her investigation of the effect of soy consumption on breast cancer.

Previous research, she said, had demonstrated that soy intake was associated with a reduced risk for breast cancer, which is dependent on estrogen. The research team found that blood levels of measured estrogens were reduced by 30 percent to 40 percent in women who consumed soy products.

"Reducing estrogen reduces breast cell proliferation," Dr. Lu says. "This may help explain why soybean consumption seems to protect against breast cancer." Dr. Lu says her research can help explain earlier studies showing that women in Asia, where diets contain high concentrations of soy products, have much lower rates of breast cancer than women in the United States.