Just another argument (and in the mainstream press, no less), to choose a plant-based diet!!! (N.B., anyone who thinks a soybean is "ordinary" hasn't yet discovered its wonders.) --Katharine English ---------------------------- SOYBEANS ARE POSSIBLE TREATMENT FOR MENOPAUSE Reuters SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Ordinary soybeans may prove a key to finding better ways to treat the symptoms of menopause and bone loss in older women, according to medical researchers studying the plant. Researchers at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., are testing hormones derived from soybeans as a potential substitute for pharmaceutical estrogens now commonly used in hormone replacement therapy. Their preliminary findings were presented Friday at an American Heart Association meeting under way in San Antonio. The goal, Bowman Gray research assistant Mary Anthony told Reuters, is to find an alternative as protective as conventional treatments against the risk of heart disease and bone loss, without the negative side effects. ''We're certainly hopeful that it won't have a negative cancer risk, and we have some evidence that makes us think that will be true,'' she said. While standard estrogen replacement therapy has been shown to reduce the risks of arteriosclerosis and bone thinning, estrogen also increases the risk of breast and endometrial cancer. Preliminary animal testing indicates plant estrogens in soybeans show more beneficial effects on cholesterol levels that can affect the risk of heart disease, Anthony said. Additional studies now are under way. Researchers chose soybeans to study because in Japan, among populations with diets high in soy, the rates of heart disease, breast cancer, endometrial cancer and hip fractures are lower than in the United States. --------------------------- [Another N.B., populations with diets high in soy also tend to consume less meat and dairy products, another contributing factor to bone loss and arteriosclerosis in Western countries eating higher quantities of animal protein.]
