Phytoestrogens put up a strong 'fight' against menopause, cancer

Better Nutrition, Oct, 1996 by Patricia Andersen-Parrado

For most people in the United States, the word "soy" usually brings to mind visions of little soy sauce packets from take-out Chinese restaurants. In reality, though, the term "soy sauce" is actually a misnomer since the fast-food processed condiment lacks most of the valuable nutrients that soy has to offer. Of course, true soy sauce (which requires two to three years of fermentation) is very different from the contents of these packets; it is actually called "shoyu" or "tamari," and can be found in most Asian markets or health food stores.

Soybeans, and the foods made from them, such as tofu and soy milk, have much to offer nutritionally. They are good sources of protein, fiber, calcium, iron, zinc, and B vitamins, among other nutrients. In addition, they are an excellent source of "phytoestrogens."

According to Earl Mindell's Soy Miracle, "Phytoestrogens are plant compounds that are converted during the normal digestive process into a form of very weak estrogen. Soybeans are particularly rich in phytoestrogens. Although phytoestrogens may be thousands of times weaker than the steroidal hormones naturally produced by the body, these plant-derived compounds can still exert a powerful influence."

While soy and its derivatives are a healthful part of anyone's diet, they are especially beneficial to women since evidence shows that they have the power to ease some of the discomforts of menopause, and to lower their risk of breast cancer, without the added risks associated with estrogen replacement therapy.

Reducing the discomforts associated

with menopause

According to nutritionist Linda Ojeda, Ph.D., author of Menopause Without Medicine, "Before hormone replacement therapy was discovered, traditional cultures used certain foods and herbs to treat a range of female complaints. Research today confirms that many menopausal women who do not experience flashes have a plant-based or primarily vegetarian diet." One example of a culture with a primarily vegetarian, high-phytoestrogen diet, and few reports of hot flashes, is Japan. in fact, Ojeda says, "there is no word [in the Japanese language] that refers precisely to this menopausal sign. Since [this] language makes extremely subtle distinctions about body states, the absence such a word is significant."

While exactly how and why hot flashes occur not fully understood, it is believed that hot flash have something to do with the lowering of estrogen levels during menopause. Although phytoestrogens are weaker than the estrogen produced in a woman's body, it seems that since they are so similar, if they are consumed regularly, the body will "think" it has enough estrogen, and, thus, symptoms such as hot flashes will not present themselves.

Protection against breast cancer

The reason why phytoestrogens provide protection against breast cancer is similar to why the help to alleviate menopausal symptoms. once again, they make the body "think" they are estrogen. In this case, they inhibit excess utilization this naturally-occurring hormone.

In The Simple Soybean and Your Health, the authors talk about the benefits of a particular group of phytoestrogens called isoflavones and their role in protecting against cancer.

They explain that while the hormone estrogen is essential, high levels have been linked to breast and other cancers, and tell us that, normally, it "hooks up" with receptors in certain tissues, including those of the breast. Sometimes, this activity causes cancer. However, if isoflavones, which resemble estrogen, are part of one's diet, they are likely to hook up to the cell's receptors before the excess estrogen does. This, in effect, disables estrogen from initiating the cancer process because there is no room for it to bind to the appropriate receptors.

The authors conclude, By competing with estrogen for the limited number of receptors, the isoflavones prevent the much more powerful naturally present estrogen from binding to these receptors...."

Hooray for phytoestrogens! It seems that the aren't so "weak" after all.

REFERENCES

Downes, John. Soy Source. Garden City Park, N.Y.: Avery Publishing Group, 1989. Messina, Mark, Ph.D, and Messina, Virginia, R.D. The Simple Soybean and Your Health. Garden City Park, N.Y.: Avery Publishing Group, 1994. Mindell, Earl, R.Ph., Ph.D. Earl Mindells Soy Miracle. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994. Ojeda, Linda, Ph.D. Menopause Without Medicine. Almeda, Calif.: Hunter House, 1995.