Soybean Phytoestrogens – Friends or Foes?

Proper and balanced nutrition is very important in prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. Many individuals modify their diet and/or take different nutraceuticals expecting to attain optimum health, extend their lifespan and prevent diseases such as cardiovascular, cancer, osteoporosis, obesity, or diabetes type II. Based on „Japanese phenomenon“ (Adlercreutz, 1998), numerous advertisements suggest that soy-based diet, and its phytoestrogens (PE) in particular, provide protection against many chronic diseases and contribute to the long lifespan often observed in Asia. That is why soy and other phytoestrogen rich plants became increasingly popular in the U.S. and western countries in the past 30 years. Furthermore, in these countries, PEs are often consumed in its purified form, as nutritional supplements, “designed” for special medical purposes. These supplements are freely available in pharmacies, health food shops, grocery shops and are usually consumed without medical control. There is a lack of awareness that uncontrolled consumption of natural PEs may be potentially harmful to human health. Even more concerning is that some people consume supplements in excess of suggested daily dosage (Wuttke et al., 2007). The soybean (Glycine max), compared to other legumes, is richer in protein levels and quality, based on its digestibility and concentration of essential amino acids (Rand et al., 2003). It is also good source of fiber, certain vitamins and minerals, such as folate and potassium (Rochfort and Panozzo, 2007). It has very high antioxidant content, similar to fruits famous for their antioxidant activity (Galleano et al., 2010). Also, despite their high carbohydrate content, the glycemic load of soybeans is relatively low due to their low glycemic index. In addition, soy-food has high levels of iron in the form of ferritin (Lönnerdal et al., 2006). The concentration of calcium in soymilk is much lower than in cow milk, however, its absorption from soy milk is similar to that from cow milk (Reinwald and Weaver, 2010). Besides the favorable nutritional attributes, soybean contains a number of biologically active components (saponins and lunasin, phytic acids, phytosterols, trypsin inhibitors, and peptides) including isoflavones genistein (G), daidzein (D) and glycitein (Gy). As soybean phytoestrogens, isoflavones are considered the most important in prevention and treatment of hormone-dependent cancers, cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, menopausal symptoms and other age-related diseases. In addition, some studies suggest that soy and its isoflavones affect body weight homeostasis. Modern world is a controversy with ever-increasing obesity on one side, and a high percent of starving people around the globe, on the other side. Having that in mind, combined with