Soy Beginnings - A Product of Thumb Oilseed Producers

"Innovative Soy Oil & Protein Products"
Product of the U.S.A.

Contact Us  

Isoflavones and Phytoestrogens

Phytoestrogens
Plants contain numerous chemical compounds (also known as phytochemicals) that are vital to their function. When it is observed that certain plants have beneficial effects such as preventing disease or curing disease, scientists attempt to discover what phytochemical or groups of phytochemicals are responsible for these positive effects. One type of phytochemical that has interested scientists is known as phytoestrogens.

Phytoestrogens are non-steroidal phytochemicals that exert weak, estrogen-like effects on the body. One group of phytoestrogen that has been observed to have and shown experimentally to exert positive effects is known as isoflavones.

Isoflavones
The most well-known isoflavones are Daidzein, Genistein and Glycitein. These isoflavones are found in soyfoods and are believed to be largely responsible for soy's ability to help prevent some forms of cancer, heart disease, and perhaps help prevent osteoporosis and menopausal symptoms. These isoflavones are found in large amounts in soy products and in much smaller amounts in other legumes.

The isoflavone, genistein, has been shown to inhibit breast and prostate cancer cell growth. Another group of phytoestrogens found in soyfoods, lignans is also believed to have some anti-cancer effects. The isoflavone, daidzein, has been found to enhance bone formation leading scientists to believe that it may help prevent and treat osteoporosis. Genistein has been shown to prevent bone loss in animals.

Use of Soy Products
Scientists are capable of isolating the effects of some phytochemicals found in soy products. However, positive health effects from ingesting plants are almost always due to a combination of the phytochemicals in those plants. Clinicians who have extensive experience using plants to help patients prevent and heal disease have found that there are almost always major drawbacks to giving isolated phytochemicals to patients as opposed to the giving them the whole plant (or an extract of all of the phytochemicals). A couple of the drawbacks of using isolated phytochemnicals include:

• Much greater likelihood of adverse reactions including subtle and detrimental long-term health problems which can appear months or years later.
• The positive effects from the isolated phytochemical use often appear more quickly, but this positive change is often not long-lasting after the intake of the isolaed phytochemical is stopped.
  When an isolated phytochemical comes on the market, it is often heavily-hyped by certain organizations and by the media and then forgetten about several months or years later after the positive effects do not match the hype. Traditional soy products have had centuries of use. Clinical and epidemiological evidence has shown disease prevention effects without any significant adverse effects from life-long intake.

Source: www.soyinfo.com/isoflav.shtml