the Soy Story
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What is Soy?
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Soy & Osteoporosis

Introduction

Many women are fearful of developing cancer, but hip fractures are more common than cancer of the breast, cervix and uterus combined. Twenty-five percent of people with hip fractures die within twelve months 1 , while about 50% of hip fracture survivors require long-term help with daily activities, and 25% require full-time nursing home care 2 .

Women from certain Asian countries have lower rates of hip fractures than women from Western countries 3 . There may be several possible reasons for this finding and diet has been acknowledged as an important factor.

Interestingly, calcium intake (mainly from soybean products, small fish with bones and vegetables) is lower in Japan, for example, than in Western countries. While an adequate calcium intake is important, a high dairy or calcium intake alone does not prevent osteoporosis. Researchers are now focusing on the potential benefits of various plant foods and their phytonutrients. In particular, soy foods with their soy protein and constituent isoflavones (a family of phytoestrogens) are being investigated, since there is a marked difference in the consumption of soy foods between traditional Asian and western diets 4 .