Pregnancy tips Soy May Help Older Women Avoid Belly Fat

There seems to be differing opinions on whether or not soy is harmful or helpful to women. Some sources priase soy for it's health benefits, others claim it's harmful both before and after menopause. Personally, I've been drinking soy milk for at least 10 years. Here is an article about how soy can help post menopausal women avoid that dreaded belly fat:

Soy may thwart belly-fat gain after menopause (www.reuters.com)

From the article:

A daily serving of soy may help postmenopausal women avoid gaining fat around the middle, preliminary research suggests.

In a study of 18 postmenopausal women, researchers found that those who drank a soy-based shake every day for three months tended to gain less abdominal fat than those who had a milk-based shake.

Soy contains compounds called isoflavones that are structurally similar to estrogen and bind to estrogen receptors in fat tissue. So in theory, soy isoflavones could help regulate body fat metabolism.

The new findings appear to be the first to show that soy protein may affect abdominal fat distribution, according to the researchers, led by Dr. Cynthia K. Sites of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. They report the results in the medical journal Fertility and Sterility