Soy-good Or Soy-bad?

Soy, the latest health craze, has historically been a component of the Asian diet. More recently, it has featured predominantly in vegetarian diets. Amongst its benefits of being high in protein and containing polyunsaturated fats that prevent cardiovascular disease, soy also contains isoflavones. Isoflavones act as phytoestrogens, compounds that mimic oestrogen, which are touted to be a cancer preventative. So is all the hype about soy, a miracle food that prevents cancer, true?

Some researchers claim that soy actually causes cancer; others say that soy does prevent cancer whilst some assert that there is no correlation between the prevention of cancer and the intake of soy. It is a controversial area indeed!

Recent research on bacteria has shown that genistein, the main isoflavone in soy, is capable of reducing the rate of mutagenesis caused by a carcinogen under certain conditions. It does this by inhibiting induction of the SOS response, which is a last resort emergency response that allows the cell to increase the frequency of mutations when under stress.

Cancer cells have a high mutation rate. Hence, genistein may potentially prevent cancer by reducing the rate of mutation in cancer cells when reducing the level of the SOS response. Further research in this area could potentially lead to development of less invasive and more effective methods of treating cancer.

Primary reference

Yang Y, Fix D 2006, ‘Genetic analysis of the anti-mutagenic effect of genistein in Escherichia coli’, Mutation Research, vol. 600, pp. 193-206.
Available at: doi:10.1016/j.mrfmmm.2006.05.024

Secondary references

http://www.csiro.au/promos/ozadvances/Series6Soy.html - Super Soy

http://www.mercola.com/article/soy/avoid_soy.htm - Newest Research On Why You Should Avoid Soy

http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/ - The Truth about Soy

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