Science of soy: the latest word on this versatile bean.(Cover Story)

The scientific evidence continues to mount: Soy food is good food--and it might be even better than many nutrition experts are willing to admit.

During the past decade, universities and specialty laboratories around the world have conducted thousands of research studies on soy and its effects on the body. Consistently, those studies have shown that the little legume packs a potent nutritional punch.

In 1999, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)--based on long-term studies--allowed soy purveyors to make this unprecedented health claim: Eating soy as part of a low-fat, plant-based diet will help reduce cholesterol. Since then, sales of soy products have soared. From soymilks to imitation meats, soy has been moving steadily--albeit slowly--from the confines of hippie health food hangouts to the tables of the American heartland.

Functional Food

Now soy devotees are making more health claims--not approved by a government agency but based on dozens of scientific studies--that soy cuts a wide swath of health benefits flint shouldn't be ignored. These include reducing the intensity of hot flashes for women in menopause; providing nutrients that battle prostate and breast cancers; offering protein that enhances athletic performance; providing the body with autioxidants that help fight everything from diabetes to kidney disease to memory loss; and contributing to bone health for women. One study even suggests that eating soy might reduce hair loss!

Conservative nutritionists caution that more long-term research is needed before they'll cozy up to all these claims. But many others who have watched the health of patients and clients improve with a steady diet of soy foods are convinced that the bean needs to occupy more room on our plates.

Mounting Evidence