Journal: Molecular nutrition & food research
This publication is an umbrella review evaluating the relationship between soy food consumption and a broad range of health outcomes.
Key points:
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Scope and methods
- The authors systematically searched major English and Chinese databases from 2014 to April 2024.
- They included:
- 23 meta-analyses of observational studies covering 39 distinct health outcomes.
- 1 meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials covering 4 outcomes.
- The exposures were various types of soy foods; the outcomes spanned multiple disease areas, with a focus on cancer and cardiometabolic conditions.
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Overall findings
- Higher dietary intake of soy foods appears more beneficial than harmful across the health outcomes assessed.
- The most consistent favorable associations were seen in cancer and cardiometabolic diseases, suggesting a generally protective or risk-lowering pattern in these domains.
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Fermented soy products
- Evidence for fermented soy foods (e.g., products undergoing microbial fermentation) was inconclusive.
- Some included studies suggested possible adverse effects, so the risk–benefit profile of fermented soy is not clearly favorable at this time.
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Evidence gaps and future directions
- Much of the current evidence is observational, limiting causal inference.
- The authors emphasize the need for more studies—especially well-designed trials—focusing on biological markers and mechanistic pathways to clarify how soy foods influence health and to differentiate effects of specific soy types and preparations.
In summary, the review supports soy foods as generally health-promoting, particularly for cancer and cardiometabolic outcomes, while highlighting uncertainty and potential concerns around fermented soy and the need for more mechanistic and interventional research.