A number of studies offer a different perspective on soy products and how they aid in healing various ailments, or prevent them from happening in the first place. Many health benefits coordinate with the protein content of soy foods while maintaining a very low cholesterol or fat intake. For this reason, soy products are often associated with healthy lifestyles.
Soy and Breast Cancer Prevention Among Eastern Women
One of the most recent findings related to soy products involves the impact on breast cancer. This is related to the isoflavones that are inherent in soy products, which carry a concentrated level of natural high-strength estrogen cells. Studies have revealed mixed results on whether the impact is positive or negative and many studies introduce factors that could guide the results one way or the other based on the ethnicity of the subject. This was concluded after a series of studies in Japan where the subjects had very distinctly differing eating habits than their counterparts in the Western world. Japanese women were assessed to eat ten times the amount of soy products than similarly aged women in the West. Furthermore, Japanese women began eating soy products at a much earlier age.
Does Soy Prevent Breast Cancer, Or Are Other Factors To Be Credited?
These various studies were met with much criticism due to the fact that Japanese women have other culturally driven eating habits that could have also affected the results of the tests. For example, Japanese women eat significantly more vegetables than their counterparts in the West.
Additionally, with soy being the main source of protein, many of the meats that are popular in the West are consumed in moderation in the East. This results in a lower concentration of growth hormones and antibiotics, which could affect the onset of cancerous cells. Furthermore, Asian women are typically closer to their ideal body weight than women from the West, and they are also generally more active. These factors make it next to impossible to determine if cancer is affected by a single food product.
Perhaps the results of the study were such because the women studied were generally living healthy lifestyles and that was the responsible element for curtailing cancerous cells. If being healthy and leading a healthy lifestyle is really what leads to cancer prevention, women all over must line up to learn how to maintain their bodies and their health because that is a small step to combat a very large and significant affect on anyone's life.
Article comments