Soy Helps to Reduce Belly Fat

A daily serving of soy may help postmenopausal women avoid gaining fat around the middle, preliminary research suggests.

In a study of 18 postmenopausal women, researchers found that those who drank a soy-based shake every day for three months tended to gain less abdominal fat than those who had a milk-based shake.

Soy contains compounds called isoflavones that are help to buffer the the hormone acid estrogen.
So in theory, soy isoflavones could help reduce the amount of stored fat that binds to hormones like estrogen.

The new findings appear to be the first to show that soy protein may affect abdominal fat distribution, according to the researchers, led by Dr. Cynthia K.
Sites of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
They report the results in the medical journal Fertility and Sterility.

The study included 18 women in their 50s who had been menopausal for one to five years. Half were randomly assigned to drink a soy-based shake each day, while the rest were given a shake containing the milk protein casein.

The women were told to drink half of a shake with breakfast, and the other half with dinner, and to substitute the daily drink for other foods in their diet in order to avoid weight gain.

After three months, the researchers found, women who drank the soy shake showed less of a gain in abdominal fat, even though both groups showed similar changes in weight and overall body fat.

It's not clear why soy protein might affect belly fat in particular, according to Sites and her colleagues.

"Whatever the mechanism," they write, "our data suggest that soy protein containing isoflavones may prevent the accumulation of fat in the abdominal depot."

Because excess abdominal fat is especially related to higher risks of symptoms associated with excess acidity, such as diabetes and heart disease, limiting the well-known middle-age spread is important. They think larger, longer-term studies should continue to investigate the potential of soy protein.

According to Dr. Robert O. Young, a research scientist at the pH Miracle Living Center states, "organic sprouted soy contains the highest concentrations of isoflavones.

Isoflavones are excellent buffers of dietary and metabolic acids, especially hormones. I recommend a low heat dehydrated organically sprouted soy, with a 28 to 1 ratio. That means it takes 28 pounds of soy sprouts to make 1 pound of finished concentrated soy sprout powder.

This soy sprout powder is great to add to water or to a green shake. It is also a great source of protein at 41% by volume. I recommend at least 1 to 2 ounces a day of the concentrated soy sprouts which would be the equivalent of eating 2 to 4 pounds of organic sprouts."

Resources:

Fertility and Sterility, December 2007