Miso, natto suppress CVD risk in women
19 Jun 2021
Fermented soy products may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), especially in women, a recent Japan study has found.
Researchers conducted a population-based prospective cohort study including 79,648 individuals (aged 45–74 years, 42,788 women) who had no history of stroke, cancer, or myocardial infarction. A food frequency questionnaire was used to assess dietary intake, and study endpoints were CVD incidence and total cancer.
Dividing the participants into quartiles of intake showed that higher consumption of fermented soy products drove down the risk of CVD in women (highest vs lowest quartile: hazard ratio [HR], 0.80, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.68–0.95; ptrend=0.01). No such effect was reported for cancer.
The above analysis had been adjusted for age, smoking status, alcohol intake, body mass index, physical activity, and dietary patterns of various food types.
The protective effect of fermented soy products on CVD risk was driven by both miso (highest vs lowest quartiles: 0.87, 95 percent CI, 0.74–1.02; ptrend=0.05) and natto (HR, 0.84, 95 percent CI, 0.71–1.00; ptrend=0.034). Total soy consumption as well as intake of nonfermented soy products had no apparent effect on CVD or cancer risk.
Notably, men drew no such benefit from any of the dietary parameters. Neither the overall consumption of fermented soy products (ptrend=0.438) nor of its subtypes, miso (ptrend=0.225) and natto (ptrend=0.412), had any significant impact on CVD risk.
“[T]his study, with follow-up of more than 15 years, may provide the best evidence for a direct association between fermented soy products and the incidence of CVD and total cancer given that a randomized control trial to test the same hypothesis would not be feasible with regard to either cost or time,” the researchers said.