Delicious UK – (10)October 2019

C

hancesareyou’veeatenfood
madewithsoyabeanstoday,
althoughyoumaynotrealise
it.They’renotjustusedfor‘mylk’,
tofu,soysauce,meatalternatives
andsoon.Formsofthebeansare
addedtoa widerangeofprocessed
food,includingbreadandice
cream.Somereportssuggestsoya
foodscanhelpprotectagainstheart
disease,menopausesymptomsand
somecancers– butit hasalsobeen
claimedthatthesefoodsareunsafe.
What’scertainis thatwe’re
eatingmoresoyathanever.
AccordingtotheOECD,global
annualproductionsurgedbyover
400 percentbetween 1990 and2018,
tomorethan 356 milliontonnes.
Theincreaseis partlyduetothe
growingpopularityofplant-based
diets– soyaproductsarepopular
alternativestomeatprotein.
Soya’stexturealsomakesit
versatileforprocessinginto
dairy-styleproducts,oilsandflours.
Soyaproteinisolates– powders
madebystrippingnutrientsfrom
thebeansandextractingproteins

• areusedbyfoodmanufacturersto
  keepfoodmoist,enhancetexture
  andpreventingredientsseparating.

THEHEALTHDEBATE
Soyabeansarea varietyoflegume
that has been highly prized in east

Bread,icecream,soups,biscuits...Manyfoodscontainsoyaasanunexpectedingredient.

Althoughsoyabeansandtheirextractshavetraditionallybeenseenashealthy,recentresearch

hinted at possible dangers. Are those fears worth a hill of beans? Sue Quinn finds out

SOYA: health food

or health hazard?

THE SANE VIEW

Isoflavonesin

soyaareattheheart

of the controversy

Asiaforthousandsofyears.They’re

a completesourceofprotein:soya

containsallnineoftheessential

aminoacidsthehumanbodycan’t

produceonitsown.Thebeansare

alsolowinfatandrichinvitamins

andminerals.Sofar,sonutritious.

Butsoyaalsocontainsa groupof

chemicalscalledisoflavonesthat

aresimilartooestradiol,oneofthe

mainformsofthesexhormone

oestrogen.Isoflavonesareatthe

heartofthecontroversy,ashigh

levelsofoestrogenarethoughtto

increasetheriskofbreastcancer.

However,accordingtoBreast

CancerUK,morerecentstudies

suggestthathighconcentrationsof

isoflavonesmayactuallyblockthe

growthofbreastcancercellsand

conferotheranti-cancerbenefits.

Sofar,studieshaveproduced

conflictingresults,andthe

protectiveeffectis notproven.

“It’sunclearwhethera

soy-richdietmightprotect

healthywomenagainst breast

cancer,althoughit

doesn’tappearto

increaserisk,”

BreastCancerUK

tolddelicious.in

a statement.It

saidtherewere

manyfactorsthat

might explain the

inconsistentresults,includingthe

breastcancertype,menopausal

statusandtheagewhena person

startedeatingsoya(onetheoryholds

thatthecancer-protectivebenefits

ofeatingsoyamightbeconferred

duringchildhoodorpuberty).

DrLizO’Riordan,a retired

consultantbreastsurgeon,breast

cancerpatientandco-authorofThe

CompleteGuideto BreastCancer

(EburyPublishing£14.99),says

muchoftheconfusionstemsfrom

studies conducted on rats, which