New research reveals disease-fighting potential of soy
[Former SPARK writer, Alexandra Sawatzky is currently, a PhD student in the Department of Population Medicine, OVC and part of Dr. Sherilee Harper’s EcoHealth research lab.]
Ontario consumers may have a new reason to incorporate soybeans into their diets.
Besides being rich in both macro—and micronutrients, increasing attention is being directed towards the powerful disease-fighting potential of soybeans. Of particular interest is the role of soy proteins in reducing chronic gut inflammation.
Working to improve the understanding of soy’s anti-inflammatory properties is Prof. Yoshinori Mine, from the department of Food Sciences at the University of Guelph. Currently, he’s working to develop dietary supplements from Ontario-grown soybeans that may help mitigate the harmful repercussions of inflammation. Animal models with supplemented soy peptides showed a significant reduction of gut inflammation within a few days.
“Our project evaluated the efficacy of soy proteins in controlling inflammation,” says Mine, “by determining the mechanism of action of certain [pullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]…powerful disease-fighting potential of soybeans.[/pullquote]
segments of these proteins, called peptides, we can learn how to effectively reduce the body’s inflammatory response through dietary interventions.”
An overactive inflammatory response impedes both the innate and adaptive immune systems and limits the body’s ability to repair damaged tissues. When this response is prolonged, it can lead to chronic conditions such as colitis—inflammation in the colon—and Crohn’s disease.
Currently, anti-inflammatory drugs are often prescribed to decrease inflammation, but these can be expensive and pose many negative side effects.
Soy peptides, comprised of short chains of amino acids, are a promising, natural solution. They can be made relatively inexpensively and are easily incorporated into supplemental form, or nutraceuticals. Further, following consumption they have little to no side effects or aftertaste—making it more attractive to consumers as alternative or complementary therapies.
Interestingly, recent discoveries indicate that the soy peptides can also suppress the growth of fat cells, helpful for weight management and the mitigation of diabetes and other inflammatory-related diseases.
Mine hopes to use these results to improve consumer awareness about the benefits of soy consumption, and the positive role a healthy diet can play in managing both chronic inflammation and consequent disease risks. Preventative approaches such as this will in turn help reduce provincial and national healthcare expenditures.
“Now that we understand the mechanisms of gut inflammation and the effects of soy peptides as functional foods, we can focus our efforts on preventing chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes, where these supplements are showing lots of promise,” says Mine.
In addition, results from this project will capitalize on Ontario’s rapidly growing soy industry—the production of value-added soy nutraceuticals presents opportunities for further expansion of the agri-food sector, generating widespread economic benefits for the province.
While working closely with industry partners in Canada and Japan, Mine’s collaborators at the University of Guelph include Prof. Ming Fan, from the department of Biosciences, research associate Jennifer Kovacs-Nolan, and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Denise Young.
Support for this research is provided by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and AFMNet.