Soy Consumption May Reduce Fracture Risk

Soy Consumption May Reduce Fracture Risk

SHANGHAI-- Soy consumption appears to reduce the risk of bone fracture among postmenopausal women, according to data from the Shanghai Women's Health Study, a cohort of Chinese women aged 40 to 70 years. Researchers from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn., examined the relationship between soy food consumption and fracture risk in 24,403 postmenopausal women over more than 4 1/2 years. After adjustment for dietary factors and osteoporosis risk factors, the relative risks of fracture over quintiles of soy protein intake was assessed. Women in the highest quintile had a 28-percent reduced risk of fracture compared to women in the second highest quintile; the association was more pronounced among women in early menopause.

This study was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine (165:1890-5, 2005).