Iranian Journal of

Background: Recently on the metabolic syndrome is considered as an inflammatory disease. So factors affecting inflammation are important in this condition.

Methods: This randomized cross-over clinical trial was undertaken on 42 postmenopausal women with metabolic syndrome. Participants were randomly assigned to consume a control diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension= DASH), soy protein diet, or soy nut diet, each for eight weeks. Inflammatory markers were measured by ELISA.

 Results: The difference from the control diet for E-selectin (an inflammatory markers which shows the endothelial function) was -11.4% (P<0.01) on the soy nut consumption and -4.7% (p=0.19) on the soy protein diets. Soy nut consumption reduced interleukin-18 compared to the control diet (difference from the control diet: -9.2%, p<0.01). For C-reactive protein the difference from the control diet was -8.9% (P<0.01) on the soy nut diet and -1.6% (P<0.01) on the soy protein diet.

Conclusion: Short-term soy nut consumption reduced some markers of inflammation and increased plasma nitric oxide levels in postmenopausal women with the metabolic syndrome.

Background: Little evidence exists regarding the effects of soy consumption on the metabolic syndrome in humans. We aimed to determine the effects of soy consumption on components of the metabolic syndrome, plasma lipids, lipoproteins, insulin resistance and glycemic control in postmenopausal women with the metabolic syndrome.

Methods: This randomized cross-over clinical trial was undertaken on 42 postmenopausal women with the metabolic syndrome. Participants were randomly assigned to consume a control diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension= DASH), soy protein diet, or soy nut diet, each for eight weeks. Red meat in the DASH diet was replaced by soy protein in the soy protein period and by soy nut in the soy nut period.

Results: Total cholesterol was significantly reduced compared to the control (P<0.01) and soy protein groups (P<0.01). The results were the same regarding the fasting insulin serum (P<0.01 compared with the control and soy protein group), HOMA-IR (P<0.01 compared with the control and soy protein group), Fasting blood sugar (P<0.01 compared with the control and soy protein group), and LDL cholesterol (P<0.01 compared with the control and P<0.05 compared with the soy protein group). Both soy nut and soy protein reduced Apo B100 compared to the control group (P<0.01).  

Conclusion: Short-term soy nut consumption improved glycemic control and lipid profiles in postmenopausal women with the metabolic syndrome