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Fermented soy vs your postmenopause
Help yourself
Kos Zharoid
April 09, 2025
You can’t pour from an empty cup.
You’ve probably heard that soy is either a superfood or not. But what if the real story depends on someone else entirely? No, not your doctor - your microbiota. These tiny microbes decide whether soy becomes a powerful ally or a useless snack. The good news - you can train them.
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Soy and microbiota: why does it help some people but not others?
Friends, today, let's talk about soy, specifically soy isoflavones, since they make up a large part of the Japanese diet.
Essentially, soy is a natural phytoestrogen that mildly mimics the action of female hormones in the body. Recent scientific data shows us an amazing connection between our microbiota and soy's effectiveness. This explains a lot!
What do soy isoflavones give us?
Support during menopause - phytoestrogens partially bind to receptors, reducing hot flashes and sleep disturbances. This is observed in Asian women whose menopause tends to be much milder.
Strong bones - isoflavones slow calcium loss after menopause.
Heart protection - soy is associated with reducing "bad" cholesterol.
Prevention - statistically, soy lovers suffer less frequently from osteoporosis and certain types of cancer.
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Why does soy affect everyone differently?
This is truly fascinating! A recent Nutrients (2023) study showed five different "metabolic types" - variations in how soy isoflavones are metabolized.
The key factor is your microbiota's ability to produce equol from daidzein. This metabolite binds to estrogen receptors much more effectively than the original isoflavones.
Only one-third of Western populations have the necessary bacteria to synthesize equol! In Asia, this figure reaches 60% thanks to dietary habits.
The rest are "equol non-producers," and in them, soy transforms into other compounds with weaker effects. This is why some people rave about soy products while others notice no effect at all!
How to get maximum benefits from soy?
Based on recent research:
Regularity is the key to success! Bacteria can be trained! Small consumption of high-quality soy products will boost microbiota growth. In studies, even women who were "non-producers" developed adapted microbiota after 2-3 weeks of daily soy consumption.
Traditional forms are better than pills. Tofu, tempeh, miso, and edamame contain isoflavones in their natural combination. Fermented products are especially valuable - they contain beneficial enzymes that increase bioavailability. Although some supplements in the form of equol (already metabolized form) are available and should theoretically work better, there's little data on them.
Take care of your microbiota. Diverse fiber, whole grains, vegetables, and fermented products provide the best support for your "internal helpers."
Soy is a perfect example of personalized nutrition and the connection between diet and our microworld. We eat not only for ourselves but also for our microscopic allies!
Experiment with different soy products, create favorable conditions for your microbiota, and your body will show amazing results! However, soy has contraindications for estrogen-dependent forms of cancer.
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Not all soy is equally beneficial.
What are we talking about? Soybean oil. This is a fairly popular oil. But like any vegetable oil, it has a huge problem - linoleic acid, which, on average, makes up 60-70% of these oils. By itself, it's an omega-6 essential fatty acid. But scientific research shows its daily norm is 2%, which we easily get from different products. Eating food cooked with vegetable oil increases our linoleic acid consumption tens or hundreds of times. In excess, it causes inflammatory processes, which in turn lead to many very serious diseases:
Cardiovascular diseases
Metabolic syndrome
Type 2 diabetes
Obesity
Autoimmune diseases
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
Cancer
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Osteoarthritis
One of the ways LA increases weight is by stimulating the endocannabinoid receptors. This causes "the munchies," very similar to cannabis. That is, linoleic acid stimulates appetite and cravings for simple carbohydrates.
If you consume soy products, then to maintain the balance of essential acids, it's important to increase omega-3 consumption.
As research shows, the balance of omega-3 to omega-6 should be 1 to 4. Still, by cooking food with vegetable oils and consuming ultra-processed products (which also contain huge amounts of linoleic acid), we shift the balance to 1 to 17. If you want to get maximum benefits from soy isoflavones, remember about the balance of fatty acids. So it doesn't turn out that fixing one thing breaks another.
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Warm regards,
Kos and Helen.
Health and nutrition disclaimer: click here.
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