Can Soy Products Affect on Inflammation Level? A Review on the Current Evidence

Inflammation has a specific role in the pathology of several diseases. Recently the effects of soy and soy components such as isoflavones have been reported on the inflammatory markers. In this review we aimed to describe the existing evidence on the effect of soybeans and soy components on inflammatory indices. We searched Scirus and PubMed databases with keywords “soy”, “inflammatory factors”, “oxidative Stress”, “soy isoflavones”, “inflammatory cytokines”. Totally, 30 studies were extracted. Animal, human and in vitro studies with case-control and clinical trial designs related to soy or soy components and inflammatory markers were included in this review. Laboratory data have been shown that soy isoflavones have anti inflammatory effects significantly. Most animal studies suggest that soy components can reduce inflammatory levels. However, in human studies soy consumption had inconsistent effects on inflammatory factors. Moderate consumption of soy might decrease serum inflammatory markers levels. Meta analysis is needed for further evaluation in this regard.