Influence of daily consumption of synbiotic soy-based product supplemented with okara soybean by-product on risk factors for cardiovascular diseases

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of a synbiotic fermented soy product supplemented with okara (a by-product from soybean) on cardiovascular disease risk markers in healthy men. In a randomized, double-blinded, placebo controlled trial, thirty-six normocholesterolemic men were assigned to two groups. Subjects consumed daily 100g of soy-based product fermented with Lactobacillus acidophilus La-5, Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis Bb-12, and Streptococcus thermophilus (starter culture) (synbiotic group — S) (n=18) or 100g of unfermented soy-based product (placebo group — P) (n=18) for 8weeks. Fasting blood samples and anthropometric measurements were collected at the baseline (T0), the end of week 4 (T4), and the end of week 8 (T8). Serum lipids, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, and electronegative LDL were also analysed on T0, T4, and T8. During the period of daily soy-based product consumption (from T0 to T8) the LDL-C mean decreased significantly (p<0.05) in group S, resulting in a significant (p<0.05) improvement of the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio. Comparing mean differences (T8–T0) between the two groups, the trend of LDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio reductions was higher in group S (14.1mg/dL and 0.38mg/dL, respectively) than group P (4.9mg/dL and 0.17mg/dL, respectively) (p>0.05). Our results suggest limited lipid-lowering effects of synbiotic soy-based product supplemented with okara on cardiovascular risk markers in normocholesterolemic men.