June 18, 2003 – Druid Panoramix had his magic potion, Japanese women have theirs: miso soup, a dish made from fermented soybeans, is said to provide powerful protection against breast cancer.
Indeed, Japanese researchers say they have been able to establish a link between a large consumption of this soup and a reduction in the risk of suffering from breast cancer. This conclusion is drawn from an examination, over a period of 10 years, of almost 22,000 women between the ages of 40 and 59. In particular, the participants were asked about their eating habits.
Among other things, the researchers wanted to know how much isoflavones, a substance that could block the growth of certain tumors and found in abundance in soy products, each woman was consuming. Forty-three percent of participants reported drinking three or more cups of miso soup per day, while 45% reported eating other soy-containing products, such as tofu, on an almost daily basis.
The protective effect seems to be directly related to the miso soup. Women who ate the most were the least likely to get breast cancer, especially if they also included other foods high in isoflavones in their diet. Consuming foods containing soy only, without miso soup, also offered some protection, but to a lesser extent.
Asian women consume up to 700 times more isoflavones than North American women, and have only a fraction of the incidence of breast cancer. Even in this study, women who consumed the least isoflavones still consumed 250 times more than their North American counterparts.
In Quebec, between 1996 and 1998, the incidence of breast cancer was 31.3 per 100,000, compared to only 10.5 per 100,000 in Japan.
The results of the study are published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Jean-Benoit Legault – PasseportSanté.net
According to Reuters Health and WebMD; June 18, 2003.
