Equol status and blood lipid profile in hyperlipidemia after consumption of diets containing soy foods.

Background: Recent analyses have challenged the effectiveness of soy foods as part of a cardiovascular risk reduction diet.

Objective: The objective of the study was to show whether equol status determines the effectiveness of soy foods to lower LDL cholesterol and to raise HDL cholesterol.

Design: Eighty-five hypercholesterolemic men and postmenopausal women (42 men, 43 women) participated in 1 of 3 studies that represented a range of soy interventions and that followed the same general protocol at a Canadian university hospital research center.

Morphological and Ginsenoside Differences among North American Ginseng Leaves.

Leaf characteristics of mature 2, 3 and 4-year-old North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) leaves on fruiting and non-fruiting (NF) plants were studied. Leaflets of the 2-year-old plants had the lowest fresh and dry weight, area, volume and internal gas volume.

Supplemental barley protein and casein similarly affect serum lipids in hypercholesterolemic women and men.

High-protein diets have been advocated for weight loss and the treatment of diabetes. Yet animal protein sources are often high in saturated fat and cholesterol. Vegetable protein sources, by contrast, are low in saturated fat and without associated cholesterol.

Soyasapogenol A and B distribution in soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) in relation to seed physiology, genetic variability, and growing location.

An efficient analytical method utilizing high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) was developed to isolate and quantify the two major soyasaponin aglycones or precursors in soybeans, triterpene soyasapogenol A and B. Soaking of seeds in water up to 15 h did not change the content of soyasapogenols. Seed germination had no influence on soyasapogenol A content but increased the accumulation of soyasapogenol B.

Effects of high- and low-isoflavone soyfoods on blood lipids, oxidized LDL, homocysteine, and blood pressure in hyperlipidemic men and women.

Background: Many of the benefits of soy have been attributed to soy isoflavones.

Objective: The objective was to determine the effects of high- and low-isoflavone soy-protein foods on both lipid and nonlipid risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: Forty-one hyperlipidemic men and postmenopausal women participated in a study with three 1-mo diets: a low-fat dairy food control diet and high- (50 g soy protein and 73 mg isoflavones daily) and low- (52 g soy protein and 10 mg isoflavones daily) isoflavone soyfood diets.

Effects of high- and low-isoflavone (phytoestrogen) soy foods on inflammatory biomarkers and proinflammatory cytokines in middle-aged men and women.

This study sought to determine effects of high- and low-isoflavone soy protein foods on acute-phase proteins and proinflammatory cytokines and whether isoflavone phytoestrogens might act as estrogens, which enhance the immune response. Forty-one hypercholesterolemic men and postmenopausal women underwent three 1-month diets consisting of a low-fat dairy food control phase and high- and low-isoflavone soy food test phases (50 g/d and 52g/d soy protein, respectively, and 73 mg/d and 10 mg/d isoflavone, respectively). Diets were low in saturated fat (<5% of energy) and cholesterol (<50 mg/d).

Potassium fertilization effects on isoflavone concentrations in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.].

Soybean isoflavone concentrations vary widely, but the contribution of soil fertility and nutrient management to this variability is unknown. Field experiments from 1998 to 2000 on soils with low to high exchangeable potassium (K) concentrations evaluated K application and placement effects on isoflavone concentrations and composition of soybean in various tillage and row-width systems. Soybean seed yield and concentrations of daidzein, genistein, glycitein, leaf K, and seed K were measured.