That's the word from researchers at the Fox Chance Cancer Center in Cheltenham, Pa., who say that while soy has long been touted for its cardiovascular benefits, it could have a more insidious side effect by raising the risk of breast cancer, reports Reuters. Alarmingly, it's thought that at least one-third of women who have a high risk for developing the disease regularly consume soy-based foods because they don't know of the potential danger.
The study: Led by Dr. Carolyn Y. Fang, the team collected data on 452 women, all of whom had a family history of breast cancer. Each was asked how frequently she consumed soy foods and why.
The results:
- Fully 43 percent of these at-risk women had consumed at least one soy food in the previous 30 days.
- 32 percent ate an average of 18 servings of soy each month. The team identified this latter group as soy consumers. They tended to be more educated and were more likely to eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily. They ate soy as part of a healthy diet, unaware it could be hurting them. In fact, 45 percent said they thought soy foods helped reduce their cancer risk.
- Among those who did not eat soy foods, 7 percent said they didn't because the plant estrogens in soy could promote breast cancer.
"Given that high levels of soy intake might increase breast cancer risk, our findings highlight the need for clear, consistent messages regarding the health benefits or risks of consuming soy foods, particularly in the context of cancer risk," Fang and her team wrote in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. "The message...may simply be that we do not have enough information yet to make an informed judgment. Be that as it may, consistent health messages from all sources should help to prevent further misinformation," they conclude.
