Do soybean products cause brain atrophy in older people?
The study, “Brain Aging and Midlife Tofu Consumption”, which was recently published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition (Vol 19, No. 2, pp. 242-255, 2000) by Lon White and colleagues reported that poor cognitive test performance, enlargement of ventricles and low brain weight were each significantly and independently associated with consuming two or more servings of tofu per week in a longitudinal study in which dietary data were collected retrospectively during 1965-1967 and again in 1971-1974. This study has a number of limitations, some of which were pointed out in an editorial accompanying the article authored by Francine Grodstein, Richard Mayeux and Meir Stampfer, who also state the following: “…we stress again that these provocative data must be regarded as preliminary.” The following points should be taken into consideration when reviewing Dr. White’s observations: 1. Tofu consumption may be an indicator (not a cause) of other risk factors for dementia. There
