A new study has put soy and milk to the test (yet again) and pronounced a winner in the battle against cholesterol. And the winner is: soy!
The study investigated the effect of soy and milk protein supplementation on lipids in healthy adults. Many other studies have demonstrated that soy protein reduces LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and increases HDL (“good”) cholesterol. This has supported the idea that soy is good for heart health, and the cholesterol-lowering claim approved for soy in 12 different countries.
Coronary heart disease is a major health epidemic. Reducing blood lipids (fats) reduces the risk of this huge killer. The results of this study reveal that soy protein supplements could help lower cholesterol in otherwise healthy people.
Compared with milk protein, soy protein supplementation significantly increased HDL and significantly reduced total/HDL cholesterol ratio, and also lowered LDL cholesterol.
The “National Cholesterol Education Program” emphasizes the importance of therapeutic lifestyle changes to prevent high cholesterol. This includes dietary modification, body weight reduction, and increased exercise. There is a rising swell of evidence showing that consumption of soy protein in place of animal protein lowers blood cholesterol levels and may provide other cardiovascular benefits. This new study is particularly interesting, as the benefits were seen in healthy people who did not have high cholesterol.
The lifestyle changes to help shield your heart from disease don’t have to be drastic. Far from it. Working soy into the diet (especially in place of meat every so often) is simple nowadays. Soy is now a certifiable healing food that does many things for us, and one is improving our cholesterol count.
This study was a randomized, controlled trial that included 352 U.S. healthy adults. It was conducted from 2003 to 2008. Participants were assigned to take 40 grams a day of soy supplements or milk supplements for eight weeks.