That's what behavioral ecologist Jenny York learned while studying white-browed sparrow weavers . Isoflavone excretion occurs mainly through urine and feces, primarily in the conjugate forms, and up to 95% takes place in 24 h [43]. The association between dietary isoflavones intake and gastric cancer risk: A meta-analysis of epidemiological studies. Taken as a whole, all these results suggest that soy isoflavones do not lead to a meaningful protective effect on cardiovascular risk. Abdi et al. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the Professor Piazza Smyth, the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, in his interesting account of a recent scientific expedition made by him to the Peak of Teneriffe, has set at rest the vexed question of the heat of the moonlight. Ronis M.J., Little J.M., Barone G.W., Chen G., Radominska-Pandya A., Badger T.M. Scientists often disagree about certain things. Effect of soy isoflavone supplementation on plasma lipoprotein(a) concentrations: A meta-analysis. Zhao T.T., Jin F., Li J.G., Xu Y.Y., Dong H.T., Liu Q., Xing P., Zhu G.L., Xu H., Miao Z.F. Day A.J., Caada F.J., Daz J.C., Kroon P.A., Mclauchlan R., Faulds C.B., Plumb G.W., Morgan M.R., Williamson G. Dietary flavonoid and isoflavone glycosides are hydrolysed by the lactase site of lactase phlorizin hydrolase. Moreover, this association was more prominent among postmenopausal women than premenopausal women. The authors indicated that high concentrations of daidzein and genistein (no specific values concerning these concentrations were available) were related to 34% and 28% reduction in breast cancer risk, respectively, whereas no association with equol was found. Effects of Acid Rain on Plants and Trees. Although the mechanisms of action of isoflavones are not completely understood, it seems that isoflavones not only reduce the rate of bone resorption but also increase the rate of bone formation. The most significant food source of isoflavones in humans is soy-derived products. Altogether, these results show that further studies are needed in order to find stronger conclusions. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Neuroprotective effects of 17beta-estradiol and nonfeminizing estrogens against H. Endoh H., Sasaki H., Maruyama K., Takeyama K., Waga I., Shimizu T., Kato S., Kawashima H. Rapid activation of MAP kinase by estrogen in the bone cell line. Winkel-Shirley B. Biosynthesis of flavonoids and effects of stress. The enzymes responsible for the hydrolysis of isoflavone glycosides are glucosidases, which can be produced by the intestinal mucosa or the microbiota [29]. Indeed, they reported that an increase of 10 mg/day of soy isoflavones consumption was associated with a 7% lower risk of cancer mortality [62]. Moreover, sodium-dependent glucose transporter 1 (SGLT1) allows phenolic compound-glycosylates to directly enter into epithelial cells, where they are hydrolyzed by cytosolic glucosidases [30,31]. Some authors label equol as an isoflavone; however, since it is a daidzein-derived bacterial metabolite and not a naturally occurring isoflavone, this classification is not correct [10]. Isoflavones (high dose: 0.675.5 mg/day; and low dose: 0.0120.1 mg/day). (2020) revised the literature to find randomized controlled trials that evaluated the impact of soy protein supplementation (isoflavone intake ranging from 49.3 to 118 mg/day) on endothelial function parameters in postmenopausal women (n = 802) [58]. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. Chadha R., Bhalla Y., Jain A., Chadha K., Karan M. Dietary Soy Isoflavone: A Mechanistic Insight. Regarding breast cancer (Table 4), the same increase in soy isoflavone intake (10 mg/day) was related to a 9% lower risk of breast cancer mortality. Liu J., Yuan F., Gao J., Shan B., Ren Y., Wang H., Gao Y. When a group receiving hormone replacement therapy was included in the study, significant differences between the effects of hormone replacement therapy and soy were found, being the effect of the former superior to that of isoflavones. In addition, several studies have observed that the urine excretion of daidzein metabolites is notably higher than that of genistein metabolites [44,45,46]. Atkinson C., Frankenfeld C.L., Lampe J.W. Careers, Unable to load your collection due to an error. Franco O.H., Chowdhury R., Troup J., Voortman T., Kunutsor S., Kavousi M., Oliver-Williams C., Muka T. Use of Plant-Based Therapies and Menopausal Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. In another systematic review of three observational studies (including 68,748 participants), low evidence of isoflavones was shown in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases [61]. Despite the positive effect of isoflavones, the authors emphasized that the effects took a long time to appear. To address the link between lunar phases and agriculture from a scientic perspective, we conducted a review of textbooks and monographs used to teach agronomy, botany, horticulture and plant physiology; we also consider the physics that address the e ects of the Moon on our planet. HHS Vulnerability Disclosure, Help Yu Y., Jing X., Li H., Zhao X., Wang D. Soy isoflavone consumption and colorectal cancer risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis. These two associations were significant for postmenopausal participants. (2016) included 17 studies (nine case-control studies and eight cohort studies) [80]. Phenolic compounds, characterized by the presence of a hydroxyl group attached to at least one aromatic ring, can be classified as flavonoids and non-flavonoids. Phytoestrogen Metabolism by Adult Human Gut Microbiota. In view of these results, we can conclude that there is scientific evidence that supports the beneficial effect of isoflavones on bone health and thus in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Chen M.N., Lin C.C., Liu C.F. Although results vary greatly, most of these applications are supported by at least a few clinical studies. He et al. Indeed, Kim and Je (2017) indicated that a high intake of flavonoids is associated with a reduced risk of mortality from cardiovascular diseases in men and women [56]. Regarding cancer, scientific evidence suggests that isoflavones could be useful in reducing the risk of suffering from some types of cancer, such as breast and endometrial cancer, although further studies are needed to confirm these results. However, a limitation in this field is that there is still a great heterogeneity among studies. (2020) carried out a meta-analysis with 15 cohort studies with the aim of exploring the association between isoflavone intake (<62.7 mg/day) and breast cancer mortality and its recurrence [68]. (2016) also studied whether there was an association between different types of interventions and the reduction in hot flushes and night sweats [90]. The latter is the most common form in foodstuffs, with the exception of fermented soy products, such as miso and tempeh. Chang H.H., Robinson A.R., Common R.H. Excretion of radioactive diadzein and equol as monosulfates and disulfates in the urine of the laying hen. ; WritingReview and Editing, M.P.P., S.G.-Z., I.E. Murota K., Nakamura Y., Uehara M. Flavonoid metabolism: The interaction of metabolites and gut microbiota. Discover world-changing science. Thus, whereas Asian populations have an average isoflavone consumption of >30 mg/day, Western populations consume <1 mg/day [83]. Duffy C., Perez K., Partridge A. In their systematic revision, which included 1307 menopausal (n = 139) and post-menopausal (n = 1268) women, Perna et al. Bhathena S.J., Velasquez M.T. Juglans regia L. is a traditional plant that has been integrated into traditional medicine since ancient times. Franco et al. Another meta-analysis, conducted by Zhao et al. This chemical feature confers estrogenic or antiestrogenic effects to isoflavones, depending on the cell type and the binding to - or -estrogen receptors. After the consumption of around 17 mg of isoflavones per day, the median plasma concentrations of genistein, glycitein, daidzein and equol were 245.3 ng/mL, 9.8 ng/mL, 86.8 ng/mL and 12.7 ng/mL, respectively. (2020) carried out their meta-analysis of 63 controlled trials, including 6427 postmenopausal women and concluded that isoflavones improve bone density at the lumbar spine, femoral neck and the distal radius in menopausal women [50]. In this sense, it has been described that both isoflavones and other estrogenic molecules could mediate their beneficial effects due to two different mechanisms: the classical estrogen receptor (ER)-mediated signaling pathway and the activation of intracellular pathways such as protein tyrosine kinase, phospholipase C and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) [5,6]. Indeed, some authors speculate that hepatic and lipoprotein lipase activity may have been altered after variable isoflavone intake from soybean, although no experimental data were provided [67]. Plants grow best when the moon is in the waxing phase, when its gravitational pull is strongest. In addition, genistein and glycitein are transformed into dihydrogenistein and dihydroglycitein, respectively, before being further converted into other metabolites. On the contrary, women who were already equol producers did not obtain any additional benefit from supplements of equol or isoflavones. The authors found a significant inverse association between isoflavone intake and both overall mortality and breast cancer recurrence. Bustamante-Rangel M., Delgado-Zamarreo M.M., Perez-Martin L., Rodriguez-Gonzalo E., Dominguez-Alvarez J. Finally, it is important to mention that despite the fact that potential isoflavone adverse effects have been widely studied, little is known about the side effect of the bacterial metabolite equol. Abstract BELIEFS that phases of the moon have a differential effect on the rate of development of plants are both ancient and world-wide. Others, however, consider such notions as prime examples of "New Age freakery". Publishers Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. In some Asian countries, isoflavone intake, usually derived from soy consumption, can be associated with a lower prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Man B., Cui C., Zhang X., Sugiyama D., Barinas-Mitchell E., Sekikawa A. (2016) analyzed the effect of oral isoflavone supplementation on endometrial thickness in pre- and post-menopausal women, which is a biomarker for the proliferative effects of estrogens associated with an increased endometrial risk [72]. ), 2CIBEROBN Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition, Institute of Health Carlos III, 01006 Vitoria, Spain, 3Bioaraba Health Research Institute, 01002 Vitoria, Spain. Daidzein, genistein and glycitein occur naturally in the aglycone form, and thus their absorption is faster than that of others. The authors suggested that further studies grouping subjects by isoflavone intake or by the circulating isoflavone levels might enhance this association. Abshirini M., Omidian M., Kord-Varkaneh H. Effect of soy protein containing isoflavones on endothelial and vascular function in postmenopausal women: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. In conclusion, this study reported some evidence that suggests the beneficial role that daidzein and genistein play in preventing breast cancer risk. Estimated Asian adult soy protein and isoflavone intakes. The most significant food source of isoflavones in humans is soy-derived products, soybeans, soy flour, soy flakes, soy beverages and fermented soy products such as miso and tempeh, among others [9]. In general terms, it has been observed that in Asian countries where there is high consumption of soy and its derived foodstuffs, isoflavone intake is high, ranging from 15 to 60 mg/day [20,21], whereas, in western countries, it is notably lower, around 12 mg/day [22,23,24]. Sirotkin A.V., Harrath A.H. Phytoestrogens and their effects. In the same line, Yu et al. The effect of soy isoflavones on arterial stiffness: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. However, the results do not seem entirely conclusive, for there are discrepancies among the studies, probably related to their experimental designs. For their meta-analysis, Jiang et al. For this purpose, 23 studies with 2167 patients were included in this meta-analysis, which showed that a daily dose of more than 54 mg could decrease the endometrial thickness in North American women, whereas the contrary effect was observed in the Asian sample. Perez-Cornago A., Appleby P.N., Boeing H., Gil L., Kyr C., Ricceri F., Murphy N., Trichopoulou A., Tsilidis K.K., Khaw K.T., et al. Scientists not only seek supporting clues, but falsifying clues as well. They observed that it was dose-dependent at low to moderate soybean consumption. Cheynier V., Sarni-Manchado P., Quideau S., editors. A total of 16 studies were included in their meta-analysis with a range of 24 to 236 subjects. ); sue.uhe@zelaznog.enatiam (M.G.-A. Isoflavones could be used as an alternative therapy for pathologies dependent on hormonal disorders such as breast and prostate cancer, cardiovascular diseases, as well as to minimize menopausal symptoms. van Erp-Baart M.A., Brants H.A., Kiely M., Mulligan A., Turrini A., Sermoneta C., Kilkkinen A., Valsta L.M. However, all the authors agree that further studies are necessary so as to confirm these results. In the meta-analysis reported by Chen et al. 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