Lee Swanson Research Update

Diabetes Risk in Overweight Women Reduced with Soy

February 2010

A recent study from Japan says that increased intakes of soy and its isoflavones may decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes in overweight women.

The risk of type 2 diabetes was 40% to 50% lower in overweight women who consumed over 118 g of soy a day, compared to overweight women who consumed less than 43 g a day, according to a new study with 25,872 men and 33,919 women aged between 45 and 75.

Similar associations were observed when the Japanese researchers considered the isoflavones daidzein and genistein. On the other hand, the risk of diabetes was not affected in men and women in general, according to findings published in the Journal of Nutrition.

"To our knowledge, ours is the first prospective study to examine the association of isoflavone intakes with type 2 diabetes in an apparently healthy population," wrote the researchers, led by Akiko Nanri from the International Medical Center of Japan.

"[Furthermore,] no previous study to our knowledge has assessed the association between intake of these food factors and type 2 diabetes or glucose intolerance stratified by BMI," they added.

Nanri and her co-workers used a 147-item food frequency questionnaire to assess dietary intakes of soy product and isoflavone intakes. Over a five-year follow-up period, 1,114 people developed diabetes.

While intakes of soy products and isoflavones were not associated with a significant reduction in the risk of type 2 diabetes in men or all women, the highest intakes of soy products were found to significantly reduce the risk of diabetes in overweight women. In addition, daidzein and genistein intakes of 22 mg and 36 mg per day, respectively, were associated with a 10% reduction in the risk of diabetes in overweight women, added the researchers.

"The possible protective associations of soy and isoflavone intakes among overweight women deserve further investigation," wrote the researchers.

Journal of Nutrition Published online ahead of print.

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