Enriched Red Clover Isoflavone May Lower LDL Cholesterol inMen

Enriched Red Clover Isoflavone May Lower LDL Cholesterol inMen

MELBOURNE, Australia--Supplementation of isoflavones from red cloverenriched with biochanin (a genistein precursor) may lower LDL (bad)cholesterol in men, according to a study published in the March issue of the EuropeanJournal of Clinical Nutrition (www.nature.com/ejcn).Genistein is an isoflavone, phytochemicals found in soy, red clover, blackcohosh and dong quai that are chemically similar to the female hormone estrogen.

The randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled trial involved 46middle-aged men and 34 postmenopausal women; all subjects had similar LDLconcentrations at the beginning of the study. Subjects received either 40 mg/dof biochanin-enriched red clover isoflavones, 40 mg/d of formononetin-enrichedred clover isoflavones (formononeitin is a daidzein precursor; daidzein is alsoan isoflavone) or placebo for six weeks. Plasma lipids were measured twice atthe end of each treatment period. Researchers found LDL cholesterol wassignificantly reduced in male subjects who received biochanin-enrichedisoflavones compared to subjects who received formonoetin-enriched isoflavonesor placebo; no LDL-lowering effect was seen in female subjects.