Studies have shown that soy
isoflavones increase bone mineral density in postmenopausal women, suggesting that soy consumption may reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
And an antioxidant called
an isoflavone increases collagen and elastin concentrations, which strengthen the skin matrix holding the follicles in place.
Not exact matches
Critics of the inclusion of
isoflavones in food claim that they
increase the incidence of epithelial hyperplasia, which precedes cancerous tumors, and that they cause goitre and hyperthyroidism.
Also, menopause
increases a woman's risk for developing osteoporosis (significant bone loss) and some studies suggest that a proprietary extract of red clover
isoflavones may slow bone loss and even boost bone mineral density in pre and peri-menopausal women.
However, in non-fermented soy products such as tofu and soy milk, these
isoflavones are present in an altered form, as beta - glycoside conjugates, which have no anti-carcinogenic effect.25 Some researchers believe the rapid
increase in liver and pancreatic cancer in Africa is due to the introduction of soy products there.26
On the other hand, fermented soy stops the effect of phytic acid and
increases the availability of
isoflavones.
Related to this is a study conducted by researchers at Sungkyunkwan University, which found that in a high - estrogen environment,
isoflavones suppressed estrogen production, and in a low - estrogen environment, they
increased estrogen production.
Suppose you take soy
isoflavones which contains natural estrogen, to
increase your estrogen levels (the primary female hormone and counterpart of testosterone in men).
By longitudinal mixed - model regression analysis, bone mineral density
increased 0.26 % per 1 mg of
isoflavone intake per year.
These
isoflavone compounds are produced by bifidobacterium breve, and have been confirmed separately to
increase the density of hyaluronates in skin.
Isoflavones:
Isoflavones, such as those found in soy, are antioxidants effective at
increasing good estrogens in the body.
Fermentation
increases the digestibility of soy (especially its proteins), nutrient absorption from soy (including absorption of phytonutrient
isoflavones like genistein and daidzein), and the concentration of bioactive peptides (formed during the breakdown of soy proteins during fermentation).
Soy
isoflavones are not xenoestrogens found in dairy which significantly
increase estrogen levels in woman, but soy contains phytoestrogens which reduce circulating estrogen.
In recent studies, rats fed the
isoflavone genistein exhibited pathological changes in the colon23 and rats fed soy - based chow had reduced growth and an
increase in gastrointestinal problems.40
Soybeans are well known to be high in
isoflavones, a class of antioxidants known to be anti-cancer that ease hormonal symptoms in women and
increase bone density.