We pick up where we left off.

Yesterday, we wrote about a new study which we found on David Stenholtz’s, senior consultant of oncology, Facebook page. The results show a reduced risk of dying from breast cancer, for those who include soy foods in their diet. In the study, published in the journal Cancer, scientists examined 6 235 patients diagnosed with breast cancer, and documented dietary intake and number of deaths. The results showed that, among women who had tumors that were negative for hormone receptors and who had the highest intake of soy isoflavones, the risk of dying from breast cancer decreased by 21% during the follow-up time of 9.4 years, compared to those who had the lowest intake of soy isoflavones.

Few foods are as debated as soy foods, and when we last wrote about this study on the Swedish blog, we received a ton of questions from you guys. Many seem to believe that soy foods increase cancer risk, and now this study takes the opposite view. Of course you’re confused, what’s the truth here?

Since soy foods may act like estrogen, but have anti-estrogenic properties as well, whether you would recommend soy foods to patients with breast cancer (especially women who receive hormonal therapy), is a controversial issue. David Stenholtz writes on his Facebook that soy appears to be beneficial for all patients, including those who are treated for estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer. He refers to WCRF and a report in which women with breast cancer are advised to eat soy-rich foods.

We’re no experts on soy foods, so if you want to read more about this we recommend you to read this article by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.