Nothing beats breast milk, but after weaning soy milk might be a better idea than the cow’s milk traditionally served to children. This is what a study published in the FASEB Journal suggests. Indeed, researchers at the University of Arkansas in the United States have shown a link between soy protein intake in childhood and bone health in adulthood.
Soy benefits from a positive image on health. Much research has indeed found benefits against high blood pressure, cancer or metabolic imbalances. Its involvement in bone density has already been shown in postmenopausal women who have integrated soy in their diet. Here, the research focuses on children’s nutrition.
Act in childhood
Scientists studied the bone density of two groups of rats that served as models of menopause. The former were fed a diet high in soy protein for thirty days, then switched to a standard diet, while the latter only experienced a traditional diet, without any soy protein. The rats in the first group retained their bone density at six months and did not develop osteoporosis, unlike the second group which did not benefit from the soy protein diet.
These new works suggest that we could act from childhood with a beneficial effect years later. The results must however be confirmed in humans before being fully validated and leading to any nutritional recommendations.
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