Common Soy Seed, For Agricultural, Farming, Style : Bright, Dried

Soybeans are becoming more and more popular on the North American continent. Native to Asia, this legume contains complete proteins, which can replace meat among vegetarians. In addition, soy does not contain cholesterol and contains good quality fats including monounsaturated and polyunsaturated acids.

Soy contains phytoestrogens, including genistein, daidzein and glycitein, molecules that resemble estrogen, a female hormone synthesized by the human body. In the body, phytoestrogens and estrogens would compete. These would therefore have the ability to replace some of the estrogen. As estrogens would contribute to the proliferation of certain types of cancer cells, phytoestrogens would cause their destruction, thus reducing the size of mammary tumors. The risk of breast cancer is therefore lower when women have higher levels of phytoestrogens in the blood (2). This effect has been noticed only in premenopausal women. In addition, studies demonstrating a protective effect of soy on breast cancer have, for the most part, been performed in Asian women who consume five times more phytoestrogens than North Americans and more fermented soybeans (tempeh, miso, natto). We must be vigilant about the results of these studies.