Jan 23, 2006

Don't Count On Veggie Burgers Or Toufu

Do not count on Veggie burgers and tofu to protect you from heart disease. A recent American Heart Association committee review report examined studies spanning over a decade and came up with doubts regarding the claim that soy-based foods and supplements are effective in significantly lowering cholesterol.

These findings are contrary to popular believes and may lead to label regulations regarding this claim on soy containing food by FDA.

This study panel also found that neither soy nor the soy component isoflavone reduced symptoms of menopause, such as ``hot flashes,'' and that isoflavones do not help prevent breast, uterine or prostate cancer. When examining the effects of soy on bone mineral loss in post-menopausal women, the studies showed mixed results. These findings are published in the recent issue of circulation.

However this does not mean that eating soy based food is not good. Often soy-based food is consumed in place of junk food, like burgers and hotdogs and consumption of soy-based food may at least prevent the harmful effects of eating unhealthy food. The only finding that has come out now is that it may not be as beneficial as previously thought especially in terms of cholesterol lowering.

``We don't want to lull people into a false sense of security that by eating soy they can solve the problem'' with cholesterol, said Dr. Michael Crawford, chief of clinical cardiology at University of California-San Francisco Medical Center. He was not on the panel that issued the new statement.

The FDA in 1999 started allowing manufacturers to claim that soy products might cut the risk of heart disease by lowering cholesterol level after studies showed at least 25 grams of soy protein a day lowered cholesterol. A year later, the Heart Association recommended in favor of soy to classify this as a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

In the last few years much more research emerged and the Heart Association decided to re-investigate this issue.

These committee members reviewed 22 studies and found that large amounts of dietary soy protein only reduced LDL, or ``bad'' cholesterol, about 3 percent and had no effect on HDL, or ``good'' cholesterol, or on blood pressure.

They also did analysis of isoflavones separately and found that isoflavones also had no effect on lowering LDL cholesterol or other lipid risk factors.

``Soy proteins and isoflavones don't have any major health benefits other than soy protein products are generally good foods,'' said Dr. Frank Sacks, a professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston who led the committee.`They're good to replace other foods that are high in cholesterol.''

Sherin      

Do You Read All Of Our Cancer Blogs?

Do you read all of the blogs published by medicineworld.org? Many of our bloggers are busy keeping you updated on the various health related topics. We publish the following blogs at this time.

Cancer blog: I manage the cancer blog with lots of help and support form other bloggers. Through this cancer blog my friends and I try to bring stories of hope for patients with cancer. The cancer blog often republishes important blog posts from other cancer related blogs at Medicineworld.org. If you are searching for a blog that covers wide variety of cancer topics, this may be the one for you.

Breast cancer blog: Breast cancer blog is run by Emily and other bloggers and they bring you the latest stories, news and events that are related to breast cancer. Increasing awareness about breast cancer among women and in the general population is the main goal of this breast cancer blog.

Lung cancer blog: Lung cancer blog is managed by Scott with the help of other bloggers. Through this blog Scott and his friends constantly remind the readers about the dangers of smoking. It's a never-ending struggle against this miserable disease with which a social stigma of smoking is associated.

Colon cancer blog: Colon cancer blog is run by Sue and other bloggers. Sue brings a personal touch to the colon cancer blog since her mother died of colon cancer few years ago. She writes about stories, research news and advances in treatment related to colon cancer.

Prostate cancer blog: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men. American Cancer Society estimates that over 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer occur in the United state every year. This important blog about prostate cancer is run by Mark and other bloggers. This blog brings news, stories, and other personal observations related to prostate cancer.

Medicineworld.org publishes a diabetes watch blog and this blog is run by JoAnn other bloggers. This diabetes watch blog brings you the latest in the field of diabetes. This includes personal stories, advances in diagnosis and treatment, and other observations about diabetes. Improving awareness about diabetes is an important mission of this group.

Janet      

Heart disease
About 13 million Americans (about 7 percent of the total population) suffer from coronary artery disease. Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death in American men and women amounting a staggering 20 percent of all causes of death. About half of all deaths related to cardiovascular diseases occur from coronary artery disease. Through this heart watch blog we will have our humble contribution towards making men and women aware of the risks of heart diseases.