Inverse association between soy food consumption, especially fermented soy products intake and soy isoflavone, and arterial stiffness in Japanese men

Studies on the associations between soy food consumption and arterial stiffness are rare. The aim of the present study was to evaluate their associations in Japanese men. A total of 652 eligible men, aged 35–69 years, who underwent the measurement of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) as an index of arterial stiffness were evaluated in this cross-sectional study. Information on their lifestyle characteristics, including dietary behavior, was obtained from a structured self-administered questionnaire. The frequency of total soy products as well as fermented and non-fermented soy products intakes was calculated, and the amounts of soy protein and soy isoflavone intakes were also estimated; these were then divided into tertiles and their associations with baPWV values were evaluated using general linear models. Higher frequency of fermented soy products intake was associated with decreased baPWV after adjusting for the multivariable covariates (P value for trend was 0.002, in Model 3). This association did not alter after further adjustment with a biomarker of systemic inflammation (serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP)) (P value for trend was 0.001, in Model 4). Total soy isoflavone consumption was also inversely associated with baPWV even after adjusting for multivariable covariates including serum hs-CRP (P value for trend was 0.043, in Model 4); however total soy protein consumption was not. These results demonstrated that greater consumption of soy food, especially fermented soy products and soy isoflavone was associated with reduced arterial stiffness, independent of systemic inflammation, in Japanese men.