Soy and Your Health: Dispelling the Myths

Soyfoods have been a part of Asian diets for centuries. Today, there is a growing interest in these foods among westerners because of their proposed health benefits and also because their versatility makes them valuable for replacing meat and dairy foods in the diet. Nevertheless, the role of soyfoods in a healthy diet has become somewhat of a confusing issue in recent years because of concerns that these foods may exert adverse effects in some individuals. However, concerns about soyfoods are based almost entirely on the results from studies involving rodents. Results from rodent studies often don’t predict effects in humans. Furthermore, because rodents metabolize soy much differently than humans, they aren’t particularly useful models for learning about the effects of soyfoods [1].