Unfermented soy products can improve blood lipids in postmenopausal women Original paper

In this meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, supplementation with unfermented soy products in postmenopausal women improved blood lipids.

The effect of supplementation with unfermented soy products on blood lipids (total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides) in the context of postmenopause.

A total of 2,457 postmenopausal women (average ages of 48–69), including women without known health conditions and women with hypercholesterolemia, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and prediabetes/type 2 diabetes.

A meta-analysis of 29 randomized controlled trials was performed. The trials were conducted in North America (14 trials), Europe (7 trials), Asia (5 trials), and South America (3 trials). The types of unfermented soy products used were isolated soy isoflavones, soy protein isolate, and isoflavone-containing soy protein. These were administered as powder, capsules, tablets, or snacks. The intervention duration ranged from 4 to 96 weeks.

Supplementation with unfermented soy products reduced (improved) the concentrations of total cholesterol (−9.5 mg/dL) and triglycerides (−10.9 mg/dL) and increased (improved) the concentrations of HDL cholesterol (+2.3 mg/dL).

The risk of bias was low in 13 trials, unclear in 13 trials, and high in 3 trials.