title: Evaluation of the effects of freeze-dried soybean curd intake on cholesterol levels using a novel biomarker.
abstract: To evaluate the effects of freeze-dried soybean curd intake on serum cholesterol levels, we examined the subclasses of cholesterol for healthy adult volunteers who continued to eat a piece of freeze-dried soybean curd each day along with their ordinary diet for four weeks. Of 12 subjects, the soybean curd diet proved effective in 2 cases; small dense LDL (sd-LDL) cholesterol levels were significantly reduced in association with the decrease in LDL cholesterol levels. These results suggested that daily intake of freeze-dried soybean curd may lead to an improvement in cholesterol metabolism in subjects with originally higher cholesterol levels and     that sd-LDL cholesterol can be a novel biomarker for evaluation of the cholesterol lowering-action of functional food.
authors.affiliation: Reseach and Development, Sekino Clinical Pharmacology Clinic, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kainuma
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Imanishi