HHS HealthBeat (September 18, 2007)

Soy and blood pressure

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

A little less meat and more soy might help some women lower their blood pressure. In one study, postmenopausal women who ate low-protein soy, and gave up an equivalent amount of protein from other sources, got that benefit.

For eight weeks, the women ate, over a day, about a half cup of soy nuts, containing about 25 grams of protein.

Francine Welty of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston notes that studies involving soy milk and soy cookies found similar benefits.

``It’s reasonable to predict that any of these products could be recommended to people who want to use dietary changes to lower their blood pressure.’’ (9 seconds)

But she says they would have to eat the way the women in the studies did.

The research in Archives of Internal medicine was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: September, 18 2007