Soy: Does it reduce cholesterol?

Probably not. An American Heart Association committee reviewed a decade of studies on the health benefits of soy and concluded that soy-based foods and supplements don't significantly lower cholesterol.

These findings — which published in the journal Circulation in early 2006 — could lead the Food and Drug Administration to re-examine rules that currently allow food manufacturers to promote a cholesterol-lowering benefit on the labels of soy-based foods.

Previous studies had shown that eating large amounts of soy protein lowered cholesterol. Subsequent research found that soy only minimally reduced LDL ("bad") cholesterol and had no effect on HDL ("good") cholesterol or triglycerides. In addition, this reduction in LDL cholesterol came only from eating significant amounts of soy, not the relatively small amounts found in many food products. Separate analysis of soy isoflavones found they had no effect on lowering LDL cholesterol.

Based on its current findings, the committee said it would not recommend soy-based foods and supplements for reducing cholesterol. However, nutrition experts say soy-based foods are still good for you because they contain less saturated fat than meat does and also provide fiber, vitamins and minerals.