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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BHNRC) » Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center » Diet, Genomics and Immunology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #332129
Title: Soy and gut microbiota: interaction and implication for human health

Author
item HUANG, HAIQIU - University Of Maryland
item Krishnan, Hari
item Pham, Quynhchi
item YU, LIANGLI - University Of Maryland
item Wang, Thomas - Tom

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/21/2016
Publication Date: 11/23/2016
Citation: Huang, H., Krishnan, H.B., Pham, Q., Yu, L.L., Wang, T.T. 2016. Soy and gut microbiota: interaction and implication for human health. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 64(46):8695-8709.

Interpretive Summary: Soy (Glycine max) is a major commodity in the U.S. and soy foods are gaining popularity due to its reported health promoting effects. In the past two decades, soy and soy bioactive components have been studied for their health promoting/disease preventing activities and potential mechanism of action. Recent studies have identified gut microbiota as an important component in human body ecosystem and possibly a critical modulator of human health. Soy foods' interaction with the gut microbiota may critically influence many aspects of human development, physiology, immunity, and nutrition at different stages of life. In this review, we summarized current knowledge on the effects of soy foods and soy components on gut microbiota population and composition. We found, while results vary in different studies, in general, both animal and human studies have shown that consumption of soy foods can increase the levels of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli, and alter the ratio between Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. These changes in microbiota are consistent with the reported reduction in pathogenic bacteria population in the gut, and thereby lower the risk of diseases that lead to beneficial effects on human health. This review provides an extensive overview of state of the art information/literatures on soy and microbiome research and will benefit both translational as well as the basic scientist.

Technical Abstract: Soy (Glycine max) is a major commodity in the U.S. and soy foods are gaining popularity due to its reported health promoting effects. In the past two decades, soy and soy bioactive components have been studied for their health promoting/disease preventing activities and potential mechanism of action. Recent studies have identified gut microbiota as an important component in human body ecosystem and possibly a critical modulator of human health. Soy foods' interaction with the gut microbiota may critically influence many aspects of human development, physiology, immunity, and nutrition at different stages of life. In this review, we summarized current knowledge on the effects of soy foods and soy components on gut microbiota population and composition. We found, while results vary in different studies, in general, both animal and human studies have shown that the consumption of soy foods can increase the levels of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli, and alter the ratio between Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. These changes in microbiota are consistent with reported reduction in pathogenic bacteria population in the gut and thereby lowering the risks of diseases that lead to beneficial effects on human health.