Post-menopausal women who take soy for their bone health may want to switch to vitamin D and calcium instead, as a new study is questioning the effectiveness of soy.
According to findings published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, women who consumed soy protein did not see an improvement in preventing bone loss, which is a common occurrence among women going through menopause.
Previous studies indicated that womens bone health may benefit from soy. However, the newest study covered an in-depth analysis over a longer period of time.
“Our six-month preliminary study, published in 2000, indicated that soy protein, rich in isoflavones, exerted the greatest impact in slowing the loss of bone mineral density in the lumbar spine,” said study author Lee Alekel. “But we believed that we needed to replicate these results in a study with a greater sample size and longer duration, which is what we did with this three-year intervention.”
Upon further investigation, it was determined that soy did not have a long-term affect. It should be noted that multiple studies have suggested the benefits of such as vitamin D and calcium for bone health.