Consuming dietary soy may reduce dementia risk: Study

New York, Oct 23 : Researchers have found that metabolite produced following consumption of dietary soy may decrease a key risk factor for dementia–with the help of the right bacteria.
The study, published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: TRCI, reported that elderly Japanese men and women who produce equol–a metabolite of dietary soy created by certain types of gut bacteria–display lower levels of white matter lesions within the brain.
“White matter lesions are significant risk factors for cognitive decline, dementia and all-cause mortality,” said lead author Akira Sekikawa from the University of Pittsburgh in the US.
“We found 50 per cent more white matter lesions in people who cannot produce equol compared to people who can produce it, which is a surprisingly huge effect,” Sekikawa added.
For the findings, the research team measured equol levels within the blood of 91 elderly Japanese participants with normal cognition.
Participants were sorted by their equol production status, and then six to nine years later underwent brain imaging to detect levels of white matter lesions and deposits of amyloid-beta, which is the suspected molecular cause of Alzheimer’s disease.