One of the most powerful and fascinating of plant ingredients available today is genistein, a plant hormone in the soybean that has been found to profoundly influence our hormone cycles and health. In fact, genistein comes closest to what I would call a miracle nutrient. You may be surprised to learn just how powerful and yet gentle plant hormones are. If estrogen has been touted as a miracle pill, then phytohormones (plant hormones) are the true miracles, made in nature's own garden. One of nature's most important plant hormones is found in the unglamorous little soybean. Soy contains phytoestrogens, or weak plant estrogens, such as genistein and daidzin. (Some researchers even regard them as antiestrogens because they compete with estrogens in the body, reducing the effects of our own powerful hormones.) These nutrients can reduce menopausal and PMS symptoms. Even more impressive, they can also lower the risk of heart disease, osteoporosis, and even cancer.

Sound too good to be true? Their powers lie in their gentleness and their remarkable ability to adapt to your body's particular needs. Phytoestrogens latch on to the same receptor sites as estrogen from your body and may actually help prevent hormonally linked cancers. Like a light switch, they can both turn on estrogenic effects and turn them off, depending on what your body needs. This phytoestrogen found in soy can repair both the deficiency of estrogen involved in menopause and the excess that causes PMS.

GENISTEIN and CANCER: Soy shows an exciting ability to decrease the risk of cancer. The Journal of Nutrition, for example, reported that soy supplements can suppress carcinogenesis and lower cancer-related deaths. An intriguing study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that soy protein can reduce the frequency of menstrual cycles by increasing the length of the follicular phase. This can decrease the risk of breast cancer, since more menstrual cycles lead to more estrogen production, which in turn promotes the growth of cancer in breast cells to which the hormone has attached. Genistein, specifically, packs a pretty powerful estrogen punch: a study from the University of Alabama showed that the plant hormone reduced skin cancer in lab animals by 50 percent. In humans, too, doses of the phytoestrogen have been found to inhibit breast cell tumor growth, report the journal Carcinogenesis, which is devoted to researching the development of cancer and tumors. And a study in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment concluded that phytoestrogens could be safely used in place of tamoxifen to treat breast cancer. Finally, genistein can help prevent excessive new blood vessel growth. Cancerous tumors grow by creating a rich network of new blood vessels. By inhibiting this ability, genistein effectively slows cancer down.

Paperchase ref: 99025862 Shao,ZM., et al. "Genistein exerts multiple suppressive effects on human breast carcinoma cells." Cancer Res (1998 Nov 1)

Paperchase ref: 99399083 Shen, F., et al. "Tamoxifen and genistein synergistically down-regulate signal transduction and proliferation in estrogen receptor-negative human breast carcinoma MDA-MB-435 cells." Anticancer Res) (1999 May-Jun)

Paperchase ref: 99243638 Yu, J., et al. "Effects of genistein and daidzein on membrane characteristics of HCT cells." Nutr Cancer (1999)

Paperchase ref: 99159168 Davis, JN., et al. "Genistein-induced upregulation of p21WAF 1, downregulation of cyclin B, and induction of apoptosis in prostate cancer cells." Nutr Cancer (1998)

For more information on nutraceuticals that prevent and reverse disease read "The Nutraceutical Revolution" by Dr. Richard Firshein.

by Dr. Richard Firshein