Soy may lower cholesterol, study shows, contradicting FDA claims

June 27 (UPI) -- Soy-based food products may hold health benefits, after all, contradicting past claims that the food has no nutritional value.

Canadian researchers recently found soy protein may lower both low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and total cholesterol, according to a study published Thursday in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

These findings contrast with those of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which proposed the revocation of any health claim soy protein could reduce coronary heart disease risk.

"At no time since the original claim for soy as a reducer of serum cholesterol has its ability been in question," David Jenkins, a professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto and study author, said in a news release. "It's been consistent since 1999. The data have not changed."

The researchers conducted a cumulative meta-analysis to examine soy's effect by looking at different points in time within 46 trials. This research comes before the impending FDA decision, which is expected this summer, on whether to maintain or retract the health claims of soy.

"These data strongly support the rationale behind the original FDA heart health claim for soy," Jenkins said. "And it's important to note that while the reduction in cholesterol was less than 5 percent, if you put that together with other plant-based foods in a portfolio you get a much stronger effect."

Jenkins conducted the original work that produced the glycemic index, a measure of how food influences blood sugar levels. In 2017, he put together a dietary portfolio of foods that include nuts, plant-based protein, plant sterols and viscous fibers which when combined can help reduce risk factors for heart disease by as much as 30 percent, researchers say.

"It's disheartening that the FDA has focused on soy," Jenkins said. "We see similar data for other foods in the portfolio. If you knock out one leg of that stool then the others could be up for grabs, right when concerns about health and the environment are bringing plant-based eating into the mainstream."