Soy nuts lower blood pressure and cholesterol in women

May 30, 2007 in Nutrition Topics in the News, Women's Health

Soy nuts lower blood pressure and cholesterol in women

According to a study conduced by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, women who used soy nuts as their main source of protein had reduced blood pressure and cholesterol levels, compared to women who didn’t eat the nut.

To study the effects of soy nuts, researchers randomly assigned 60 healthy post-menopausal women to receive one of 2 diets.  The first diet, also known as the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) diet, consisted of 30 percent calories from fat, 55 percent from carbohydrate and 15 percent from protein.

The second diet had the same calorie, fat and protein content, but 25 grams of protein were replaced with half a cup of unsalted soy nuts.

At the beginning of the study, 12 women had high blood pressure; the remaining participants had normal blood pressure levels.

After the study period, soy nut supplementation significantly reduced blood pressure in all 12 of the women with high blood pressure, as well as 40 of the women with normal blood pressure levels. 

In fact, soy nuts reduced systolic (top number) and diastolic (bottom number) blood pressure by 9.9 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively in the women who started the study with high blood pressure.

The women who began the study with normal blood pressure also experienced a reduction of 5.2 percent and 2.9 percent respectively.

Women who began the study with high cholesterol, also experienced an 11 percent decrease in LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels when supplemented with the soy nuts.

These latest findings were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

All research on this web site is the property of Leslie Beck Nutrition Consulting Inc. and is protected by copyright. Keep in mind that research on these matters continues daily and is subject to change. The information presented is not intended as a substitute for medical treatment. It is intended to provide ongoing support of your healthy lifestyle practices.