Soy compound may boost bone density
Supplements containing a soy compound called genistein may help increase women’s bone mass after menopause, a study suggests. Italian researchers found that a combination of genistein, calcium and vitamin D helped protect postmenopausal women’s bone density better than calcium and vitamin D alone. In fact, women who took the soy compound showed a modest increase in bone density over two years, compared with a small decrease among women who used only calcium and vitamin D, the researchers report in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Genistein is a type of isoflavone, plant chemicals that have effects similar to the female hormone estrogen and may have certain estrogen-like effects in humans. The estrogen decline that follows menopause contributes to bone density loss