Soy does not have a significant effect on sex hormones or thyroid

Persky VW, Turyk ME, Wang L, Freels S, Chatterton R Jr, Barnes S, Erdman J Jr, Sepkovic DW, Bradlow HL, Potter S.

Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, the School of Public Health, the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. vwpersky@uic.edu

BACKGROUND: The long-term clinical effects of soy protein containing various concentrations of isoflavones on endogenous hormones are unknown. OBJECTIVE: We examined the effects of ingestion of soy protein containing various concentrations of isoflavones on hormone values in postmenopausal women. DESIGN: Seventy-three hypercholesterolemic, free-living, postmenopausal women participated in a 6-mo double-blind trial in which 40 g protein as part of a National Cholesterol Education Program Step I diet was provided as casein from nonfat dry milk (control), isolated soy protein (ISP) containing 56 mg isoflavones (ISP56), or ISP containing 90 mg isoflavones (ISP90). Endogenous hormone concentrations were measured at baseline and at 3 and 6 mo. RESULTS: The concentration of thyroxine and the free thyroxine index were higher in the ISP56 group, and the concentration of thyroid-stimulating hormone was higher in the ISP90 group than in the control group at 3 and 6 mo (P < 0.05). Triiodothyronine was significantly higher in the ISP90 group only at 6 mo. Thyroxine, free thyroxine index, and thyroid-stimulating hormone at 6 mo were inversely associated with measures of baseline estrogenicity. No significant differences were found for endogenous estrogens, cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, insulin, glucagon, or follicle-stimulating hormone after baseline hormone values were controlled for. CONCLUSIONS: This study does not provide evidence that long-term ingestion of soy protein alters steroid hormone values, but it suggests that soy protein may have small effects on thyroid hormone values that are unlikely to be clinically important. The thyroid effects are, however, consistent with previous findings in animals and highlight the need for future research investigating possible mechanisms of action.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10522983?ordinalpos=61&itool=EntrezSys...

Modest hormonal effects of soy isoflavones in postmenopausal women.

Duncan AM, Underhill KE, Xu X, Lavalleur J, Phipps WR, Kurzer MS.

Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul 55108, USA.

Soy isoflavones have been hypothesized to exert hormonal effects in postmenopausal women. To test this hypothesis, we studied the effects of three soy powders containing different levels of isoflavones in 18 postmenopausal women. Isoflavones were consumed relative to bodyweight [control: 0.11 +/- 0.01; low isoflavone (low-iso): 1.00 +/- 0.01; high isoflavone (high-iso): 2.00 +/- 0.02 mg/kg/day] for 93 days each in a randomized crossover design. Blood was collected on day 1 of the study (baseline) and days 36-38, 64-66, and 92-94 of each diet period, for analysis of estrogens, androgens, gonadotropins, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), prolactin, insulin, cortisol, and thyroid hormones. Vaginal cytology specimens were obtained at baseline and at the end of each diet period, and endometrial biopsies were performed at baseline and at the end of the high-iso diet period, to provide additional measures of estrogen action. Overall, compared with the control diet, the effects of the low-iso and high-iso diets were modest in degree. The high-iso diet resulted in a small but significant decrease in estrone-sulfate (E1-S), a trend toward lower estradiol (E2) and estrone (E1), and a small but significant increase in SHBG. For the other hormones, the few significant changes noted were also small and probably not of physiological importance. There were no significant effects of the low-iso or high-iso diets on vaginal cytology or endometrial biopsy results. These data suggest that effects of isoflavones on plasma hormones per se are not significant mechanisms by which soy consumption may exert estrogen-like effects in postmenopausal women. These data also show that neither isoflavones nor soy exert clinically important estrogenic effects on vaginal epithelium or endometrium.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14977438?ordinalpos=4&itool=EntrezSyst...

Bruce B, Messina M, Spiller GA.

Division of Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA. bbruce@stanford.edu

Despite the safety review conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the process of awarding a health claim for the cholesterol-lowering properties of soy protein, concerns about the possible goitrogenic effects of soybean isoflavones persist. Concerns are based primarily on in vitro research, animal studies, and older reports of goiter in infants fed soy formula not fortified with iodine. In a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study, we investigated the effect on thyroid function of a daily supplement containing 90 mg (aglycone weight) of total isoflavones/day versus placebo in 38 postmenopausal women, 64-83 years old, not on hormone replacement therapy. Serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroxine (T4), and triiodothyronine (T3) were measured at baseline and after 90 and 180 days. In the supplement group, at baseline and 6 months, TSH (micro U/ml), T4 (nM), and T3 (nM) levels (mean +/- SE) were 3.00 +/- 0.44, 149.00 +/- 5.04, and 1.53 +/- 0.13, respectively, and 3.49 +/- 0.52, 154.52 +/- 2.09, and 1.78 +/- 0.12, respectively. In the control group, levels at baseline and at 6 months were 3.35 +/- 0.51, 145.39 +/- 6.69, and 1.55 +/- 0.18, respectively, and 3.63 +/- 0.57, 153.77 +/- 6.64, and 1.75 +/- 0.10, respectively. Intragroup differences for all three measures were statistically indistinguishable at 6 months, and levels were similar between the isoflavone supplement and placebo groups at each measurement. These results indicate that in this group of healthy iodine-replete subjects, soy isoflavones do not adversely affect thyroid function.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17472472?ordinalpos=13&itool=EntrezSys...

Teas J, Braverman LE, Kurzer MS, Pino S, Hurley TG, Hebert JR.

University of South Carolina, USA. jane.teas@palmettohealth.org

Seaweeds and soy are two commonly eaten foods in Asia. Both have been reported to affect thyroid function, seaweed because of its iodine content and soy because of its goitrogenic effect. Twenty-five healthy postmenopausal women (mean age 58 years) completed a double-blinded randomized crossover study. Ten capsules (5 g/day) of placebo or seaweed (Alaria esculenta), providing 475 microg of iodine/day, were consumed daily for 7 weeks. A powdered soy protein isolate (Solae Co., St. Louis, MO), providing 2 mg of isoflavones/kg of body weight, was given daily during the last week of each treatment arm. On average, this provided 141.3 mg of isoflavones/day and 67.5 g of protein/day. Blood samples and 48-hour urine samples were collected before and after each intervention period, and urinary I/C (microg of iodine/g of creatinine) and serum thyroxine, free thyroxine index, total triiodothyronine, and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were measured. Seaweed ingestion increased I/C concentrations (P < .0001) and serum TSH (P < .0001) (1.69 +/- 0.22 vs. 2.19 +/- 0.22 microU/mL, mean +/- SE). Soy supplementation did not affect thyroid end points. Seven weeks of 5 g/day seaweed supplementation was associated with a small but statistically significant increase in TSH. Soy protein isolate supplementation was not associated with changes in serum thyroid hormone concentrations.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17316115?ordinalpos=14&itool=EntrezSys...

Dillingham BL, McVeigh BL, Lampe JW, Duncan AM.

Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

OBJECTIVE: The ability of soy isoflavones to inhibit thyroid peroxidase and induce goiter in animals has generated concern regarding their potential antithyroid effects in humans. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of soy protein isolates of varied isoflavone content on circulating thyroid hormones in healthy young men. DESIGN: Thirty-five healthy men (27.9 +/- 5.7 years old) supplemented their habitual diets with milk protein isolate (MPI), low-isoflavone soy protein isolate (low-iso SPI; 1.64 +/- 0.19 mg iso/day), and high-isoflavone SPI (high-iso SPI; 61.7 +/- 7.4 mg iso/day) for 57 days each, separated by 4-week washouts in a randomized crossover design. Blood was collected on days 1, 29, and 57 of each treatment for analysis of total triiodothyronine (T3), free T3, total thyroxine (T4), free T4, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), and thyroid binding globulin (TBG). Twenty-four hour urines were collected at the end of each treatment for analysis of isoflavones. MAIN OUTCOME: Results revealed no significant effects of the low-iso or high-iso SPIs on serum total T3, free T3, total T4, free T4, TSH, or TBG when compared with the MPI on either study days 29 or 57. Urinary data revealed that isoflavones were significantly increased by the high-iso SPI relative to the low-iso SPI and MPI. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study demonstrate that soy isoflavones in a protein matrix do not significantly influence circulating thyroid hormones in healthy young men.