Dietary combination of soy with a probiotic or prebiotic food significantly reduces total and LDL cholesterol in mildly hypercholesterolaemic subjects.
OBJECTIVE
We hypothesized that a dietary combination of soy with either a probiotic (yoghurt) or a prebiotic (resistant starch) would result in enhanced lipid-lowering effects compared with a control soy diet, possibly via improvements in isoflavone bioavailability.


METHODS
Mildly hypercholesterolaemic subjects (men and post-menopausal women) older than 45 years were recruited via the local media. Thirty-six subjects commenced the study; five withdrew.


RESULTS
Soy+probiotic significantly decreased total cholesterol (4.7+/-2.0%; P=0.038) and soy+prebiotic significantly decreased total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (5.5+/-1.6%; P=0.003 and 7.3+/-2.2%; P=0.005, respectively). The bioavailabilities of daidzein, genistein or equol were not affected by probiotic or prebiotic consumption or associated with lipid changes.


CONCLUSIONS
Dietary combination of soy with either a probiotic or a prebiotic resulted in significant lipid lowering, not related to isoflavone bioavailability.
Larkin
T A
TA
Department of Biomedical Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. tlarkin@uow.edu.au
Astheimer
L B
LB
Price
W E
WE
D000368:Aged; D001939:Bread; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004032:Diet; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D019833:Genistein / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000097:blood / Q000178:diet therapy*; D007529:Isoflavones / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D048789:Phytoestrogens / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D019936:Probiotics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D045730:Soy Foods; D013213:Starch / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D014908:Triticum; D015014:Yogurt
D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D007529:Isoflavones; D048789:Phytoestrogens; D014280:Triglycerides; C004742:daidzein; D013213:Starch; D002784:Cholesterol; D019833:Genistein