Abstract
Abstract Soy is a key food in human nutrition. It is widely used in eastern traditional cuisine and it has recently diffused among self-conscious and vegetarian diets. The success of soy mainly depends on versatility and supposed healthy properties of soy foods and soy components. Meanwhile, the possible influence on endocrine system, in particular by isoflavones, raised concerns among some researchers. The present paper aims to conduct a review of available data on the effect of soy, soy foods and soy components on women's fertility and related outcomes. Eleven interventional studies, eleven observational studies and one meta-analysis have been selected from the results of queries. A weak, not clinically relevant effect has been highlighted on cycle length and hormonal status. However, a suggestive positive influence has been shown among women with fertility issues and during assisted reproductive technologies. Overall, soy and soy components consumption do not seem to perturb healthy women's fertility and can have a favourable effect among subjects seeking pregnancy. However, because of the paucity of studies exploring the impact of soy intake on women's fertility, as well as the limited population sample size, the frequently incomplete specimens’ collection to investigate all cycle phases and the insufficient characterisation of participants, the evidence is suggestive and it needs further in-depth research taking into account all these aspects.
Highlights
Soy is a very popular food and its consumption is part of the traditional cuisine of South-East Asian countries
A systematic consultation of literature was launched on four search engines (PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Trials Library and ClinicalTrials.gov) using the following keywords: (‘Soy’ OR ‘Soy Foods’ OR ‘Soybeans’ OR ‘Genistein’ OR ‘Daidzein’ OR ‘Isoflavones’ OR ‘Phytoestrogens’) AND (‘Fertility’ OR ‘Infertility’ OR ‘Fecundability’)
Keywords were searched in titles and abstracts and combined with MeSH terms, where available, adapting the query format based on the search engine used
Summary
Soy is a very popular food and its consumption is part of the traditional cuisine of South-East Asian countries. Interest in soy is driven by its possible beneficial effects on human health. Soy consumption is supposed to have protective effects against cardiovascular disease by cholesterol-lowering and blood pressure improvement action and in the prevention of cancer or diabetes and it supports bone health and the management of menopause symptoms[2–8]. Soy contains numerous phytochemicals that can be responsible for these positive effects through multiple mechanisms. Soy contains numerous non-isoflavone constituents such as phytic acid, triterpenes and sterols, Bowman–Birk protease inhibitors, unsaturated fatty acids, saponins, inositol phosphates, proteins, peptides such as lunasin;(10) soy isoflavones have attracted much attention in the last years for its estrogenic as well as non-hormonal properties[11]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
