effects of soy on metabolic biomarkers of cardiovascular disease in elderly women with the metabolic syndrome

objective: to ascertain the effects of soy [in the forms of textured soy protein (tsp) and soy-nut] on lipid profiles, apolipoproteins, inflammatory and prothrombotic markers and blood pressure in elderly women with the metabolic syndrome. materials and methods: the study is a 12-week parallel randomized controlled trial that was conducted in rural health centres of babol, iran. the participants were 75 women 60-70 years old with the metabolic syndrome who were randomized to one of the three groups of soy-nut (35g/d), tsp (35g/d) and control. blood pressure and blood biochemical markers were measured at baseline and at the end of the study including, triglyceride, cholesterol, hdl-c, ldl-c, vldl-c, apob100, apoai, crp and fibrinogen. results: the soy-nut improved significantly ldl-c, vldl-c and apo b100 (p<0.05) while fewer improvements but significant were observed in these variables in the tsp group only when compared with the mean changes from the baseline (p<0.001). similar result was found for apo ai in the treatment groups (p<0.01). serum total cholesterol decreased significantly in the  treatment groups compared with control group (p<0.005). the differences from control for triglyceride, hdl-c, fibrinogen, crp and blood pressure were not significant. conclusion: both forms of soy while improved lipids profiles the soy-nut contribution was more to this improvement than the tsp. therefore, moderate daily intake of soy may be a safe, cheap and practical method to improve cardiovascular disease risk and also reduce the need for medical treatment.