A novel study by the University of Illinois has found that children who had soy isoflavones incorporated into their diet saw a marked improvement in cognition.
This stemmed from their enhanced ability to process information effectively, while also improving their attention span.
Soy isoflavones have been speculated to be beneficial for cognitive health in adults, though no research had been done into their impacts in children, until now.
The findings of the study were presented at Nutrition 2024 in Chicago.
How the study was run
Researchers examined the previously available data from a cross-sectional study of 128 children aged between 7 and 13.
Information on the children’s diet records were used to calculate every participant’s average dietary intake — including the amounts of micronutrients, macronutrients, vitamins and isoflavones present in their diet throughout the week.
To determine the intellectual ability of the children, tests were given to students which were adjusted to their age category.
The flanker task, a computerised cognition test, was also used in conjunction with EEG measurements to determine the information processing speed and attention of the children.
The results
Although the researchers determined that a large number of the children had generally low levels of soy isoflavones in their diet, those that consumed more of the substance exhibited faster responses in the attentional tasks.
They were also found to have higher processing speeds in the flanker task compared to children who didn’t consume soy in their diet.
There was no association made between soy isoflavone intake and general intellectual ability, however.
Ajla Bristina, a doctoral neuroscience student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, stated: “The children in our study consumed an average of 1.33 mg of isoflavones per day, which while relatively low, aligns with previously reported values for the United States,”
“Soy consumption for individual participants ranged from 0 to 35 mg/day. To put this into perspective, an 8 oz serving of soy milk provides about 28 mg of isoflavones, a serving of tofu provides about 35 mg and half a cup of steamed edamame provides about 18 mg of isoflavones.”
More research needed to determine soy's true benefits
Although this study could be considered a breakthrough in the understanding of how soy isoflavones impact children’s health, the research team isn’t stopping there:
“Correlational studies like this are only the first step.To better understand the effects of eating soy foods on children’s cognitive abilities and the precise amount of isoflavone intake necessary to elicit faster response times will require intervention approaches.”
To find out more, the research team recently began a clinical trial examining the effects of soy foods on thinking abilities, sex hormones, metabolic health and gut health.
