Effect of Soy Bread on Markers of Bone Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease

Soy beans are rich in isoflavones, such as genistein and daidzein, which exhibit estrogenic activity. While the cardiovascular benefits of isoflavones in soy have been recognized, the effects on bone metabolism are less well known. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration expressed an interest in the effects of soy on bone loss and a former NASA scientist developed a soy product, soy bread, which may be more palatable for most Americans than currently available soy foods. A two-treatment two-period crossover trial was conducted to assess the effects of soy bread consumption on deoxypyridinoline, N-telopeptides, bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, calcium, leptin, insulin-like growth factor-1, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, testosterone, cholesterol (total, HDL, LDL), triglycerides, apolipoprotein AI, apolipoprotein B, C-reactive protein, and glycosylated hemoglobin. The crossover trial was conducted in subjects identified as having the ability to metabolize daidzein to equol. The treatment was 3 servings of soy bread daily over a 12-week period. The control period included 3 servings of a placebo wheat bread over a 12-week period. For subjects who did not metabolize daidzein to equol at baseline, a pretest-posttest trial of soy bread consumption over an 8-week period was conducted to examine whether 3 servings/day of soy bread increased urinary equol concentrations and whether the addition of fructooligosaccharide enhanced this excretion.