Chambana Sun

Soy Protein Lowers Cholesterol, Risk of Heart Disease, Study Finds

Scientists have long known of soybeans’ cholesterol-lowering properties and lipid-regulating effects. In a new study, scientists have found that specific proteins in soybeans have the potential to reduce LDL cholesterol levels and lower the risk of metabolic diseases such as atherosclerosis—which leads to heart disease—and fatty liver disease.

The new study adds to previous research about the benefits of soy by investigating two specific soy proteins thought to be responsible for these outcomes—glycinin and B-conglycinin. The researchers found the latter to be particularly significant.

“As we hypothesized, soybeans’ effects on cholesterol metabolism are not only associated with their protein concentrations and composition but also with the peptides embedded in them that are released during gastrointestinal digestion,” Elvira de Mejia, a professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the corresponding author of the study, said in a statement.

Benefits of soy protein

For the study, the research team defatted and ground into flour 19 soybean varieties, each of which contained differing proportions of the two proteins. The proportion of glycinin in these varieties ranged from 22 percent to 60 percent while the B-conglycinin ratio ranged from 22 percent to 52 percent.

Using a simulation of the human digestive process validated by other studies, the team mixed the defatted soybean flours with various fluids and enzymes to mimic the oral, gastric, intestinal, and colonic phases of digestion. They identified 13 bioactive peptides produced during digestion, most of which came from glycinin and B-conglycinin, according to the study.

Original source can be found here