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Isoflavones
The Role of Estrogen
Estrogen is involved in many vital body functions from the central
nervous system to breast, heart and bone health. It may surprise you to
learn that even men have estrogen receptors all over their body and
make estrogen, albeit in much smaller quantities than women. By binding
to estrogen receptors throughout the body, isoflavones have the
potential to mediate many of the physiological functions affected by
estrogen.
Some Estrogen Receptor Sites and Potential Roles of Isoflavones
| Site |
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Effect |
|
Anticipated Result |
Central Nervous System
Breast
Cardiovascular System
Liver
Bone |
|
Estrogenic
Anti-estrogenic
Estrogenic
Estrogenic
Estrogenic |
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Reduction of hot flashes
Prevention of breast cancer
Prevention of heart disease
Regulation of cholesterol
Prevention of osteoporosis |
Types of Soy Isoflavones
Dietary isoflavones are mainly found
in legumes, such as soy and chickpeas. Soy contains the isoflavones
genistin, daidzin and glycitin in approximately a 50%-40%-10% ratio.
The amount of total isoflavones within the bean can vary greatly and
for example, a bean grown in warmer climates or low altitude produce
beans that contain less isoflavones than those grown in colder or high
altitude climates. Isoflavones play a protective role in the soy bean’s
growth, and the harsher conditions warrant greater quantities. As a
whole, a soy bean contains 0.2% to 0.4% isoflavones by weight.
Interestingly, the soy germ contains the highest quantity of
isoflavones when compared to any other part of the bean. While only 1
to 2% of the entire bean in weight, the soy germ is nutrient dense and
is the portion of the bean that actually grows into a new soy plant;
the rest of the soy bean is considered a reservoir for stored energy,
needed for the soy germ to grow. Isoflavone ratios differ in soy germ
when compared to the whole soy bean. In soy germ, daidzin is the
predominant isoflavone, followed by glycitin and genistin, in
approximately a 70%-20%-10% ratio. The fact that daidzin levels are
highest in soy germ indicates its importance for the soy bean’s growth
and recent research is finding that this composition may be important
and useful in humans as well.
Availability in Humans
Most soy foods and supplements contain
isoflavones in their original form, the glycoside. In this conjugated
form, the isoflavones have a sugar molecule attached to them, making
them inactive and too large to be absorbed through the stomach or
intestinal wall. The sugar molecule must first be removed to free the
active part of the isoflavone, known as the aglycone. The aglycone is
the part of the isoflavone that is similar in structure to estrogen.
Clever Marketing — and Little to No Active Ingredient
It is
also noteworthy to point out that glycosides (inactive isoflavones)
weigh approximately 1.5 to 1.6 times more than their active version,
the aglycones. This means that close to 40% of the glycoside’s weight
is due to the sugar molecule, which, in fact has no effect on hot
flashes or other health concerns. Since most soy foods and supplements
on the market today contain isoflavones in the inactive, glycoside
form, the actual active isoflavone content may be considerably less
than what is listed on the label. Most marketers do not want the
consumer to know that the product they are ingesting contains mostly
isoflavones in their inactive form. Effisoy with AglyMax contains
standardized levels of the aglycone, the active version of the
isoflavone.
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| Clinically Proven. |
| Effisoy with Aglymax is clinically proven relief for the uncomfortable symptoms of menopause. |
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