Soy Isoflavones
soy isoflavones, soya isoflavones, soybean isoflavones, isoflavones, genistein, daidzein, glycitein, soy isoflavone extract, soya isoflavone extract
What it is
Naturally occurring soy compounds such as genistein, daidzein and glycitein. Their structures resemble oestrogen enough to interact with oestrogen receptors, but their biological behaviour is not the same as human oestrogen.
Why BOTIA flags it
Soy isoflavones resemble oestrogens enough to bind to their receptors, but they do not behave like human oestrogen: in trials in women, even at supplement doses, they did not change bone density or hot flushes. Eating soy food is not the same as taking a concentrated extract, and the label does not say how many isoflavones an ingredient carries. And they do not do the same thing in everyone: some people's gut bacteria turn one of them into S-equol and some people's do not, and that is not something the label can tell you.
BOTIA CAN
- Identify explicitly declared soy isoflavones, isoflavone extracts and named compounds such as genistein, daidzein and glycitein.
- Distinguish an explicitly declared concentrated isoflavone ingredient from an ordinary soy ingredient whose isoflavone dose is not stated.
BOTIA CANNOT
- Calculate the isoflavone dose from an ordinary soy ingredient when the label provides no quantity.
- Predict an individual's hormonal, menopausal, thyroid or other clinical response from the ingredient name alone.