Anti-obesity Soya Could Help Prevent Weight Gain, Diabetes

Although yellow soya has already been touted for its cholesterol lowering abilities, a team of Korean researchers have shown in animal trials that the black soya may even be more potent, and in addition, may also prevent weight gain and subsequently, diabetes.

The researchers, led by Shin Joung Rho at Hanyang University, Seoul, allowed 32 rats to gorge on a fatty diet, supplemented with various levels of black soya. The results showed that, after two weeks, those getting 10% of their energy from black soya had gained half as much weight as those in the control group. Total blood cholesterol fell by 25% and LDL (so-called “bad”) cholesterol fell by 60% in the rats in the 10% group.
David Bender, sub-dean at the Royal Free and University College Medical School, London, thinks that the soya protein may be having an effect on fat metabolism in the liver and adipose tissue, reducing synthesis of new fatty acids and cholesterol. It is this metabolic effect that may explain the traditional Asian use of black soya in the treatment of diabetes. “The key problem in type II diabetes is impairment of insulin action, mainly as a result of excess abdominal adipose tissue - so loss of weight often improves glycaemic control,” says Dr Bender.

Should you require further reading, the study has been published in the February issue of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.

Does anyone know recipes that incorporate black soya?