Soy Protein Protects Bone

URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, Ill.—Soy protein intake may help reduce bone turnover in postmenopausal women, according to a new study in Menopause (14, 3:481-88, 2007). Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign randomized 61 postmenopausal women, 43 of whom completed the nine-month double blind intervention, to receive soy protein isolate (SPI) or milk protein isolate (MPI), with or without moderate-intensity exercise, in a 2x2 design. Measures of bone turnover and bone mineral density (BMD) were assessed.

After nine months, SPI significantly reduced markers of bone resorption and formation compared to MPI, but did not affect BMD. There were no additive effects of soy and exercise on bone turnover or BMD; in fact, exercise training did not favorably alter bone turnover or impact BMD.

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