Does Soy Protein Provide the Same Benefits as Estrogen?
A large number of environmental factors contribute to a lower prevalence of cardiovascular disease, reproductive cancer and menopausal symptoms in Asian countries, compared with Western countries. Substantial differences in the consumption of soy-based products containing phytoestrogens have been postulated as contributing to the discrepancy. Many of the previous studies on phytoestrogens have been limited because of failure to document phytoestrogen levels in the soy-based treatment, failure of blind randomization or small sample size. Washburn and associates evaluated the effect of a soy protein dietary supplement on chronic disease risk and menopausal symptoms in a double-blind, randomized, crossover study of nonhypercholesterolemic, perimenopausal women with reported vasomotor symptoms. After meeting eligibility requirements, women 45 to 55 years of age were enrolled in the study. Participants received one of three dietary supplements and were randomly assigned to the following die
