Can Soy Bread Fight Cancer?

HealthNewsDigest.com | 02.01.2010

From veggie burgers to milk to protein bars, soy beans are known as a nutrient-rich ingredient - and they may soon be known for their ability to fight cancer. Drawing on previous research proving that the chemicals in soy could help cut the size of prostate tumors by as much as 40 percent, Ohio State cancer researchers and food scientists have developed a new soy bread that they’re hoping can take a bite out of prostate cancer.

The special bread is inspired by the diets of men in Asia, where soy is plentiful and prostate cancer is rare. To see if the bread will hold true in fighting prostate cancer here, Ohio State researchers have enrolled dozens of men with the disease in a study that gives them a daily dose of the soy-packed loaves.

“The dose of soy that’s included in two slices of this bread would be equivalent to what many Chinese would consume during a day,” says Steven Clinton, MD, PhD of Ohio State’s James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, who is leading the soy bread study.

As part of Dr. Clinton’s study, men will eat the soy bread and researchers will keep tabs on them to see if there’s a connection between input and outcomes.

“We look at their urine and their blood and see if there is something within their body, something that affects the way they digest these particular phytochemicals,” says Ohio State food scientist Yael Vodovotz, PhD.

If the right chemicals are getting to the right areas, researchers here say when it comes to cancer prevention, this bread may prove to be a cut above the rest.

Study volunteer and 17-year prostate cancer survivor Bob Cunningham finds the notion pretty easy to swallow.

“There’s nothing I’d rather see than a cure for prostate cancer since I’ve been suffering from it for about 20 years now,” Cunningham says.

Doctors say their study filled up quickly and they already have more than enough men to conduct their tests. If the bread proves effective, consumers may see it on store shelves in the next couple of years.

 Coopyright HealthNewsDigest.com 2010