Soy Nuts and Exercise Help Cut Cholesterol

Ivanhoe Newswire
Tuesday, May 29, 2007; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Are you a post-menopausal woman with high blood pressure? If so, listen up! A recent study reveals substituting soy nuts for other protein sources can effectively reduce blood pressure in post-menopausal women and may lower cholesterol in those with high blood pressure. Another new study suggests exercise can boost levels of HDL, or good cholesterol.

To determine what kind of an effect soy nuts had on womens health, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston assigned 60 post-menopausal women to two different diets for eight weeks. The first diet consisted of 30 percent fat, 15 percent protein, and 55 percent carbohydrates. Participants who adhered to this diet consumed 1,200 milligrams of calcium each day, less than 200 milligrams of cholesterol, and ate at least two fish-based meals per week. The second diet was exactly the same as the first, except participants on this diet were told to replace 25 grams of protein with one half-cup of unsalted soy nuts.

Based on their findings, researchers concluded participants who adhered to the second diet had lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels than their counterparts who adhered to the first diet. The soy nut diet also decreased levels of LDL cholesterol, or bad cholesterol, by 11 percent in participants with high blood pressure.

This study was performed in a free-living state, study authors wrote. Therefore, dietary soy may be a practical, safe and inexpensive modality to reduce blood pressure. Researchers also report the dietary soy nut could have the potential to reduce cardiovascular risk in post-menopausal women.

In a separate study, researchers from Ochanomizu University in Tokyo reported exercising for long periods of time may have the power to increase levels of HDL cholesterol, or good cholesterol, in a persons body. During the study, researchers found the level of intensity a person exercised at didnt have as much of an impact on cholesterol as the amount of time they exercised. Increasing time per session is better than performing multiple brief exercise sessions where total time for exercise is limited, the study authors wrote.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, published online May 25, 2007