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Vol. 6, No. 12
January 18, 2001

Soyfoods USA ...a monthly e-mail newsletter designed to inform media sources, dietitians, and consumers about the latest soyfoods information.

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CONTENTS

1. Soy Symposium Sheds New Light on Benefits
2. Breast and Prostate Cancer Summary
3. Recipes
_ Roasted Red Pepper Dip
_ Sloppy Joes
4. Getting on and off our list

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Editor's note: This issue of Soyfoods USA focuses on the recent soy symposium held in November 2001. We are reprinting here with permission part of The Soy Connection newsletter, which has more information about the symposium. You can download the entire newsletter from Talksoy.com. Abstracts from the symposium can be obtained from the following Web site...

http://www.aocs.org/meetings/soy/

SOY SYMPOSIUM SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON BENEFITS
By Mark Messina, Ph.D.

The Fourth International Symposium on the Role of Soy in Preventing and Treating Chronic Disease was held this past November in San Diego, CA. The first such symposium was held in 1994. During the interval between the first and fourth symposia a phenomenal amount of research has been conducted on soyfoods and soybean constituents. The results of this research have largely been responsible for the marked rise in soyfood consumption that has occurred during this time period. Not surprisingly, findings presented at the Symposium raised more questions than they answered, but they also attest to the amount of progress that has been made in the field. This is best illustrated by the significant extent to which human research comprised the bulk of the information presented.

Over the past several years, in addition to direct research on soy, understanding of soy has been greatly aided by advances in the field of steroid biochemistry. Particularly important in this regard is the identification of a second estrogen receptor (estrogen receptor beta). This discovery has led to development of selective estrogen receptor modulators ­ compounds that have tissue selective (estrogenic) effects. There is considerable discussion about whether the soybean isoflavones fall into that category. Of course, soy is more than isoflavones and at this Symposium many speakers focused on the protein component of soybeans and speculated that peptides resulting from the digestion of soy protein have important physiological effects.

One issue upon which there seemed to be general agreement was the need to better understand the health consequences of equol production. Equol is not present in soybeans but is produced by intestinal bacteria from the isoflavone daidzein. However, only about one-third of subjects actually produce equol. This varies according to the composition of the intestinal microflora. Some data suggests equol production is beneficial, but this is still speculative. Interestingly, when the National Cancer Institute first allocated funds for soybean research in 1991, part of the intended focus of this research was aimed at determining whether future clinical trials should include or exclude equol producers.

Sometimes it seems as though soy enthusiasts think that this bean and the foods made from it are a cure for all ailments. Of course this is not the case, but in the "emerging areas" session at the Symposium, data were presented on the potential health benefits of soy related to thyroid cancer, osteoarthritis, and skin care (you may have already noticed advertisements emphasizing the soy content of skin care products). In regard to the latter, it is interesting to note that historically among the Chinese, the topical application of soy has been recognized for its desirable effects on the skin.

Johanna Lampe presented the work of Madeline Rice from the University of Washington, which consisted of a cross-sectional study of the relationship between soy intake and the incidence of osteoarthritis (OA) among a group of Japanese postmenopausal women residing in the Seattle area. Women who consumed the most soy were approximately 50 percent less likely to develop OA than women consuming the least soy. Although soy intake (women in the third tertile of intake consumed as few as 9 mg of isoflavones per day) was fairly modest in this study and no dose-response was observed, there is a basis for thinking the estrogen-like effects of the soybean isoflavones might be relevant to preventing OA.

There is an inverse relationship between bone mineral density and OA and the prevalence of OA is lower in women compared to men before age 50; whereas after 50, the prevalence is higher. Both these observations suggest estrogen is protective against OA, although surprisingly, estrogen use was associated with an increased risk in this study.

BREAST AND PROSTATE CANCER SUMMARY
By Mark Messina, Ph. D.

Focus on the anticancer effects of soy have centered primarily on breast and prostate cancer, largely because of the low rates of these hormone- dependent cancers in Asia. At the Symposium, there was a special session on breast cancer because of concerns that soy might actually stimulate estrogen-dependent breast tumors. Only one presentation focused on prostate cancer, but arguably, the results of this study were the most exciting of the entire Symposium.

Omer Kucuk from the Karmonas Cancer Institute at Wayne State University reported the results of a six-month study that examined the effect of daily isoflavone supplements (77 mg/day) on prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels in prostate cancer patients. There were three groups of patients 1) untreated 2) treated with local therapy and 3) treated with hormone therapy. Importantly, to be eligible for the study, patients had to have either a rising PSA level on three separate occasions or very elevated PSA levels, which indicates their cancer was uncontrolled. Three of four, 15 of 18, and six of nine patients responded to treatment in groups I, II, and III, respectively. The rate of rise in PSA levels decreased by 71 percent in II and 56 percent in group III, respectively. These results suggest that isoflavones may be useful in stabilizing prostate cancer in prostate cancer patients and by inference, that soy may be useful in reducing the risk of developing prostate cancer.

The breast cancer session included several interesting studies that did much to alleviate concerns that soy might be harmful to some women. One year-long study, which was presented by Gertraud Maskarinec from the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, found that isoflavone supplements (76 mg/day) had no effect on breast tissue density in premenopausal women. Charlotte Atkinson from the Institute of Public Health in Cambridge, in a similar study also conducted for one year but involving perimenopausal and postmenopausal women, found no effects of isoflavone supplements (40 mg/day) on breast density in the women overall, but when the subjects were divided into age groups, there was a statistically significant decrease in women aged 56-65 years of age.

The findings from these two studies are important because breast tissue density appears to be an excellent marker of breast cancer risk; agents such as hormone replacement therapy (HRT) that increase breast cancer risk increase density, whereas agents such as tamoxifen, that decrease breast cancer risk, decrease density. Thus, these two studies suggest soy does not exert an estrogen-like or proliferative effect on breast tissue in either pre- or postmenopausal women but may in fact favorably affect risk in older women.

Two animal studies offered interesting insights to the potential value of soy or isoflavones when used in combination with pharmaceutical agents. In one, Andreas Constantinou from the University of Illinois at Chicago reported that the combination of soy and tamoxifen inhibited the development of chemically induced mammary cancer in rats to a greater extent than tamoxifen by itself. In the other, J. Mark Cline from Wake Forest University found that although soy alone had no effect on chemically induced tumor incidence in either ovariectomized or intact (ovaries present) rats, soy reduced the incidence of mammary cancer in ovariectomized rats given estrogen from 50 percent to just 8 percent.

Finally, Pamela Horn-Ross from the Northern California Cancer Center presented her results from a cross-sectional study of soy intake and thyroid cancer risk among Caucasian and Asian women residing in the San Francisco area. This cancer is of particular interest because some animal studies (human studies suggest otherwise) suggest soy is goitrogenic and there may be a link between goiter and thyroid cancer. Although as pointed out by Horn-Ross, cruciferous vegetables are known to contain goitrogens (glucosinolates) and yet the intake of these vegetables is associated with a reduced risk of thyroid cancer. In the study by Horn-Ross, both total soy consumption and the intake of individual soyfoods were protective against thyroid cancer. While these results should be considered preliminary, they certainly help to dispel any concerns that soy intake may increase thyroid cancer risk.

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RECIPES

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

12 sundried tomato halves, not in oil
1 cup hot water
2 cans (15 oz. each) soybeans (or 3 cups soaked and cooked dried soybeans)
6 ounces firm silken tofu
2 Tbs minced garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/3 cup spicy hot salsa
1 jar (7 ounces) roasted red peppers, drained

Soften sundried tomatoes in 1 cup of hot water until soft. Drain well. In food processor, process soybeans and tofu until coarsely chopped. Add garlic, cumin, oregano, tomatoes, salsa and roasted red peppers. Continue to blend in food processor until fairly smooth, yet thick like a dip. Refrigerate. Serve with vegetables, pita bread, tortillas, bagel chips, or hollowed-out bread.

Yield: 5 1/2 cups. Serving size: 1/4 cup.
Per serving: 59 calories, 2 g fat, 0 g sat fat, 5 g protein, 6 g carbohydrate, 42 mg sodium, 0 mg cholesterol.

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Sloppy Joes

1 cup textured soy protein
1 cup boiling water
16-ounce can sloppy joe sauce
4 whole wheat hamburger rolls

To rehydrate the textured vegetable protein, place it in a medium saucepan and pour the boiling water over it. Add the sloppy joe sauce to the textured vegetable protein; cook over low heat until heated through. To serve, pour the mixture over the hamburger rolls.

Yield: 4 servings.

Per serving: 196 calories, 15 grams protein, 2 grams fat, 32 grams carbohydrate.

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Permission is granted to reprint this information, as long as credit is given to Soyfoods USA http://soyfoods.com

Send comments or requests for information about Soyfoods USA to the editor, Roger Stevens, info@soyfoods.com

Back issues available at http://www.soyfoods.com/newsletter/old/OldSUSA.html

More information about soyfoods can be found at the U.S. Soyfoods Directory http://soyfoods.com

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Copyright 2002
Stevens & Associates, Inc.