Can Soy Reduce Prostate Cancer Risk?
According to recent studies conducted on Japanese men, consumers of soy isoflavones showed 50 percent reduced risk of being attacked by prostate cancer when compared to the non-consumers. The incidence of prostate cancer is found to be much lower in Asian than in the Western countries perhaps because Asian diets include more soy than the Western diets.
In studies conducted in mice, genistein, a chemical found in soy, slowed the growth of prostate cancer and also caused the prostate cancer cells to die. Genistein belongs to the family of isoflavone. Isoflavones are phytoestrogens that resembles estrogen in the body. The soy isoflavones are strong antioxidants and has shown to be protective against cancer in animal models. But, increased isoflavone intake is shown to enhance the risk of advanced prostate cancer.
According to Dr. Norie Kurahashi, M.D., of the National Cancer Center of Japan, “Consumption of isoflavones from traditional Japanese food throughout life may protect against the incidence of prostate cancer, but we cannot recommend the use of isoflavones from supplements for people who do not regularly consume these chemicals, because the relationship between isoflavones and the risk of advanced prostate cancer is not yet clear.”