Mixed
The cardiovascular benefits of soy isoflavones, particularly regarding blood pressure and inflammation, are conditional on the individual's ability to metabolize daidzein into equol via gut microbiota.
If you eat soy and see no heart health benefits, you might be a 'non-producer' of equol. This is determined by your gut bacteria. While soy is still healthy, its specific blood-pressure-lowering power is mostly reserved for those who can convert it to equol.
There is emerging evidence on the diverging biological effects among individuals capable of metabolizing the soy isoflavone daidzein to the more bioactive metabolite equol... blood pressure, plasma triglycerides (TG) and C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations were significantly lowered among equol- and O-desmethylangolensin (ODMA)-producing pre-hypertensive, postmenopausal Chinese women, compared to non-producers
Why this rating
Consistent observational and some interventional data support the equol-producer advantage, though large-scale RCTs are fewer.
Source
Beyond the Cholesterol-Lowering Effect of Soy Protein: A Review of the Effects of Dietary Soy and Its Constituents on Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease
D. Dan Ramdath et al. · Nutrients · 2017
DOI 10.3390/nu9040324
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