Soy has become very popular in today’s human diet and health press. Newspaper and magazine articles tout the benefits of soy, and promotions for soy-enriched products seem to be everywhere, especially with the current popularity of low-carb diets. However, no mainstream pet food products promote soy as a benefit for dog or cat health. Because the market segment targeted to promote the benefits of soy (college-educated, health-conscious women) is much the same as the market targeted for pet food, one would speculate that some overlap in the soy-health message would occur. However, it hasn’t.
Specifically, the benefits from soy in the human diet start with heart health and the effect soy has on lowering LDL cholesterol. In 1998, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved the health claim for soy stating that “25 grams of soy protein a day, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease.” Soy also contains unique phytochemicals with biological activity such as isoflavones, phytosterols, saponins, and various phenolic acids. The isoflavones daidzen and genistein have been shown to have an inhibitory effect on breast, prostate, colon, and skin cancer cell growth and their weak estrogen-like activity have also been implicated in the reduction of symptoms associated with menopause and reduced bone mineral loss in post-menopausal women (Messina, 1999).
