Research shows that one soya-based drink a day can slash the
amount of fat that accumulates across the stomach.
Abdominal fat is particularly bad for health, raising the risk
of heart attacks and diabetes more than fat found on other parts of
the body.
It is thought that soya, a vegetable protein, somehow interferes
with the processing of excess sugar into fat.
It is believed that soya, a
vegetable protein, interferes with the processing of excess sugar
into fat - helping to flatten out a pot belly.
Previous studies have shown that soya and tofu, a meat
substitute made from soya bean curd, cut the risk of ovarian cancer
and heart disease.
In the latest study, the researchers looked at the effect of
soya supplements on the health of 15 women who had gone through the
menopause.
Nine were asked to drink a 120-calorie soya shake a day, while
six were given a dummy shake to drink.
After three months of daily shakes, there was little difference
in weight between the two groups.
However scans showed a big difference in the amount of fat the
women were carrying around the waist.
While those on the soya shakes had lost abdominal fat during the
course of the study, the other women had put it on, the American
Society for Reproductive Medicine's annual conference heard.
The US researchers said the finding could prove particularly
significant in improving the health of older women who often pile
on the pounds after the menopause.
Writing in the journal Fertility and Sterility, they
said: 'Our trial suggests a new dietary option for the prevention
of abdominal adipose tissue gain that occurs after menopause.'
Dr David Christie, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham
(CORR), who is collaborating with the researchers on other work on
soya, said the shakes contained more soya than people would
normally eat in their diet and supplements would be needed to get
the same effect at home.
He added: 'This was a very small trial with very small
numbers.
'If it were to hold up in larger numbers it could have much
broader implications in terms of recommending soya to menopausal
women.
'It may well have a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease or
diabetes.'
Other recent research showed that a pot belly greatly increases
the risk of heart attacks.
A 12-year-study of more than 100,000 men and women revealed that
waist size is strongly linked health, with those with the biggest
bellies being more than 40 per cent more likely to suffer from
hardening of the arteries, angina and heart attacks than those with
washboard stomachs.
At greatest risk were those who developed a beer gut, while
still young, the US study showed.
(Agencies via China Daily October 31, 2007)
