There are two schools of thought on soy.

While there are those who say that the whole business of encouraging us to eat more soya products is a scam – only aimed at sales of products, a new study, limited to Asian American women, found that high soy intakes during adolescence and as adults were associated with a 20 to 25 per cent reduction in breast cancer rates.

Before I look at the new research I want to stress that I drink soya milk to relieve the dreaded hot flush-hot flash. I must have the world record of the longest time suffering from the heat heebie-jeebies. Almost ten years now! When I run out of soya, the very next day back they come to raise my cranky level and mist up my glasses.

But I don’t want to discount the research done on breast cancer.

This month in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, we are reminded that breast cancer incidence rates have been four to seven times higher among white women in USA than in women in China or Japan.

However, when Asian women migrate to the US, their breast cancer risk rises over several generations and reaches that of US white women, suggesting that modifiable factors, rather than genetics, are responsible for the international differences.

The underlying mechanism is not known, but the researchers hypothesised that …

the estrogenic effects of soy isoflavones cause changes in breast tissue during childhood that may decrease sensitivity to carcinogens later in life. A similar protective effect has been found in studies of overweight girls, perhaps because fat tissue also secretes oestrogen.

Soy isoflavones have estrogenic properties that may cause changes in breast tissue. Animal models suggest that ingestion of soy may result in earlier maturation of breast tissue and increased resistance to carcinogens.

This study adds to an ever-growing body of research supporting potential cancer-protecting properties of soy – but it’s still early days yet. One study isn’t enough but it gives us something to think about.

Early soy intake may slash breast cancer risk later in life

Why take HRT to treat hot flushes – hot flashes? We can expect to get these! They’re uncomfortable, irritating and can sometimes be scary, but they won’t kill us!

The chances of being killed by taking hormones to alleviate a hot flush is just far too high.

Please, avoid HRT.  Women run twice their normal risk of breast cancer while taking the combined form of estrogen and progestagen. Estrogen alone is not so risky. Both forms of HRT increase the risk of ovarian cancer, although not by as much as they do breast cancer. Estrogen alone increases the risk of endometrial cancer, which affects the lining of the womb.

Why am I so against HRT? I’ve already lost friends from breast cancer and from ovarian cancer.  I’m selfish. I don’t want to lose any more friends.  And I don’t want to see any more women risking their health, their very life, by taking a quick fix to alleviate menopausal symptoms which are, after all, expected and natural.

Read some facts ……

The Million Women Study
The Million Women Study in UK is a national study of womens’ health, involving more than one million women aged 50 and over to study factors affecting womens’ health in this age group. The main focus of the study relates to the effects of hormone replacement therapy use. More than one in four women in the UK in the target age group are now participating in the study. It’s the largest study of its kind in the world.

The important findings from this study are:

• The risk of breast cancer increases with duration of use of HRT
• Ceasing HRT reverses the risk over time
• There was an excess of breast cancer deaths in women who received HRT

And here’s some more facts :

“Four randomised trials including over 20000 women followed up for 4.9 years, on average, have now reported on the effect of HRT for major, potentially fatal, conditions. Overall, HRT users had a significantly increased incidence of breast cancer, stroke, and pulmonary embolism; a significantly reduced incidence of colorectal cancer and fractured neck of femur; but no significant change in endometrial cancer or coronary heart disease”

Evidence from randomised trials on the long-term effects of hormone replacement therapy

“Use of HRT by women aged 50-64 years in the UK over the past decade has resulted in an estimated 20000 extra breast cancers, 15000 associated with oestrogen-progestagen; the extra deaths cannot yet be reliably estimated. INTERPRETATION: Current use of HRT is associated with an increased risk of incident and fatal breast cancer; the effect is substantially greater for oestrogen-progestagen combinations than for other types of HRT.”

Breast cancer and hormone-replacement therapy in the Million Women Study

If you are taking HRT please read the advice from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists : Consumer Medication Information

Important Warning:

In a large study, women who took estrogen with progestins had a higher risk of heart attacks, strokes, blood clots in the lungs or legs, breast cancer, and dementia (loss of ability to think, learn, and understand). Women who take estrogen alone may also have a higher risk of developing these conditions. Tell your doctor if you smoke or use tobacco, if you have had a heart attack or a stroke in the past year, and if you or anyone in your family has or has ever had blood clots or breast cancer. Also tell your doctor if you have or have ever had high blood pressure, high blood levels of cholesterol or fats, diabetes, heart disease, lupus (a condition in which the body attacks its own tissues causing damage and swelling), breast lumps, or an abnormal mammogram.

Call your doctor immediately if you experience any of the following symptoms while you are taking estrogen: sudden, severe headache; sudden, severe vomiting; speech problems; dizziness or faintness; sudden complete or partial loss of vision;double vision; weakness or numbness of an arm or a leg; crushing chest pain or chest heaviness; coughing up blood; sudden shortness of breath; difficulty thinking clearly, remembering, or learning new things; breast lumps or other breast changes; discharge from nipples; or pain, tenderness, or redness in one leg.

PHOTO :  Marcia Cross  in a breast cancer-awareness t-shirt during a news conference to raise awareness of the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act.

To keep up my battle against creeping pounds I’ve exchanged one solid meal a day for a bowl of soup instead. Results from a 12 month study of overweight people on a reduced-calorie diet showed that those enjoying soup each day lost more weight than people who got the same number of calories from other foods eaten for lunch or snacks.

The reason the soup-eaters lost more is  because a bowl of soup has a low ratio of calories to ounces. In other words, the soup takes up more space in the stomach, and you feel less hungry over the course of the day.

Feel like some soup? For women of that Certain Age here’s a soup full of cancer-reducing agents, B vitamins, calcium and phytoestrogens.

Cauliflower and Cannellini Soup
A quick and easy recipe using cauliflower, part of the Brassica (cruciferous) vegetable family, which is associated with a lower risk of cancer including breast cancer.

• 1 cauliflower head cut into florets
  400g can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed in cold water (this will reduce about 40 per cent of  added salt)
  1 chopped onion or leek
  About 2 litres of vegetable stock (depending on size  of  cauliflower and consistency desired)
  2–3 bay leaves1 teaspoon of butter (optional)
  1 dessertspoon of olive oil
  Handful of roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
  Salt (if not in vegetable stock) and cracked pepper
  Goats fetta or yoghurt for serving

Method

• In a large saucepan, heat olive oil and butter;add onion or leek and sauté on low heat until partially cooked.
• Stir in cauliflower to coat with the flavour of the onion and oil.
• Add beans, then enough vegetable stock to cover the vegetables.
• Add remaining ingredients, cover and simmer until cauliflower is  cooked (breaks up when pressed with a wooden spoon).
• Remove bay leaves and blend with a fork, or with your processor.
• Serve with crumbled fetta or low-fat yoghurt and extra parsley.

Nutritional value

The anticancer effects of the Brassica family are associated with compounds called glucosinolates.

Broccoli is usually promoted as being the best choice in this family for potentially reducing cancer risk, but it is suggested that a variety of vegetables rich in glucosinolates may be better in helping to influence the enzymes in the body’s system that are moderated to reduce risk.

One of the ways the Brassica vegetables might lower breast cancer risk is  by influencing the way that our body’s oestrogen is  broken down to become less harmful.

The beans thicken the soup and provide a source of phytoestrogens  found in legumes. Phytoestrogens eaten in moderate to high amounts, as in the diet of Chinese and Japanese women, may help reduce perimenopausal symptoms in some  women.

In an earlier post, The Phytoestrogen Buzz I look at these plant compounds, similar in chemical makeup to our estrogen.

Cannellini beans also provide fibre and protein. Protein found in legumes, including beans, is an ‘incomplete’ protein and needs to be complemented with either a grain or a seed. Eating bread with the meal, or sprinkling sesame seeds on the soup, would complete the protein.

Alternatively, add fetta or yoghurt, both of which are complete proteins because  they are an animal source.

Cannellini beans are a good source of B vitamins, including folic acid. They are rich in cholesterol-lowering fibre. The high fibre content also prevents blood sugar level from rising too quickly, which helps sustain energy.

Adding goats fetta, or low-fat yoghurt, adds a source of calcium, as well as increasing the protein.