Study confirms heart benefits of soy while FDA examines this claim



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(Reuters Health) – US regulators should continue to recommend the use of soy protein as part of a healthy diet for the heart, as they help lower cholesterol, researchers said Sunday. from an badysis of dozens of studies done over the past two decades.

The US Food and Drug Administration has allowed soy products to claim cardiac benefits since 1999. But in 2017, the FDA has proposed to revoke this authorization, citing mixed results in more recent studies on cardiac benefits. soy.

For this badysis, the researchers pooled data from 46 soybean trials cited by the FDA in its proposal to revoke the marketing authorization for soybean products in healthy heart.

Soy has reduced total cholesterol, according to the badysis. Soy also reduces low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels, or "bad cholesterol", which can lead to blood clots and heart attacks.

"Patients can be certain that soy will help lower cholesterol in the same way as other FDA-approved plant foods, such as nuts, oats and barley, psyllium-based margarines and plant sterols, "said Dr. David JA Jenkins, senior author of the study and researcher in nutrition at the University of Toronto in Canada.

"The FDA has been a" pioneer "in alerting the public to the need to plant foods that lower cholesterol and it's so sad to see them retire now as the public wakes up to the value of food Of vegetable and protein origin, in particular, "said Jenkins, who has received funding from a wide range of food companies, including some who sell soy products.

Since 1990, the FDA has been responsible for evaluating health claims regarding packaged foods in order to ensure that they are based on sound scientific evidence, the FDA said in its press release. October 2017 announcing its proposal to revoke the soy claim. Other approved claims for food packaging over the years include the potential of calcium and vitamin D to reduce the risk of osteoporosis or reduce the risk of cancer for certain fruits and vegetables.

The FDA has not responded to a request for comment on the new study.

Susan Mayne, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said in her 2017 statement: "Our review of these data led us to conclude that the relationship between soy protein and heart disease does not did not meet the FDA approved health claim standard. "

In the current badysis, soy has reduced LDL from 4.2 to 6.7 mg / dL on average, researchers have reported in the American Heart Association Journal. This is similar to the average reduction of 6.3 mg / dL observed in studies completed in 1999 that contributed to the FDA's authorization to authorize soy health claims for the heart, said the study team.

"Soy foods are good for the heart and are a good source of protein," said Dr. Omer Kucuk, a researcher at Emory University, who did not participate in the event. study. "Other habits for a healthy heart include daily physical activity and a diet rich in vegetables and low in sugar and saturated fats," Kucuk said via e-mail.

People who wish to reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes should also avoid egg yellows, limit the consumption of red meat and, in general, have a more vegetable diet, said Dr. David Spence, a researcher at Western University in London, Ontario, who did not participate in the study.

Soy is one of the many ways that people can adopt an herbal diet without losing the protein they could use to get meat, Spence said via email.

"Any combination of cereals and legumes contains all the essential amino acids that your body needs to produce protein," added Spence. "So any combination of peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas, nuts, etc. with bread, pasta or rice (which must be whole grain) gives you protein."

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2kdxJdt Journal of the American Heart Association, online July 2, 2019.

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