OPUS Finds Soy Isoflavones Safe

WÄDENSWIL, SwitzerlandCountering prior theories soy isoflavone supplementation can contribute to increased breast cancer risk, new findings from the Osteoporosis Prevention Using Soy (OPUS) intervention study, funded by the USDA, has confirmed that long-term supplementation with soy hypocotyl isoflavones does not cause adverse effects.  The findings wee published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2011; 93:35667)

The multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involved 403 menopausal women divided into tree different treatment groups: either 80mg/day or 120mg/day aglycone soy isoflavones (as SoyLife®, from Frutarom), or a placebo. Safety was the secondary endpoint in the study, which focused on the effects of soy isoflavones on osteoporosis prevention. Researchers found supplementation did not increase risk for breast cancer or endometrial cancer, and they concluded that long-term supplementation with soy isoflavones is safe.

Derived from soy hypocotyl, SoyLife soy germ isoflavone product is different than supplements based on soy cotyledons or common OTC isoflavone supplements. According to Frutarom, most of the recent studies on safety have involved genistein and soy cotyledon isoflavones, as well as red clover or kudzu isoflavones, but SoyLife® has a qualitatively different isoflavone composition to these, containing mostly daidzein and glycitein and only a tiny amount of genistein.