Phytoestrogens: are they soy good for you?
16 Oct 2007 | Bernie Goldie
The final Professorial Lecture at UOW for 2007 will be presented tomorrow (Wednesday 17 October) on the topic “Phytoestrogens: are they soy good for you? Adventures with Bioactive compounds.”
Professor Will Price from UOW’s School of Chemistry will deliver the lecture.
He will discuss a range of studies which have investigated the health benefits from diets containing different classes of phytoestrogens, isoflavones and lignans. In addition, he will discuss recent work looking at a rather different aspect of phytoestrogens -- their occurrence in the environment and whether they have any deleterious effects.
Professor Price will tell his audience that phytoestrogens are a very interesting group of bioactive plant based compounds with hormonal activity and structural similarity to endogenous estrogens. They include isoflavones from soy and other legumes, lignans from linseed and whole grains, and coumestans from clover.
He will point to the fact that among Asian populations with a high intake of soy, epidemiological evidence has demonstrated a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease, hormone-dependent cancers of the breast and prostate, colon cancer, menopausal symptoms and osteoporosis.
Thus diet, and in particular soy and its isoflavones, have been implicated as affording some protection against the development of these hormone dependent cancers and cardiovascular disease.
When: Wednesday 17 October from 12.30-1.30pm
Where: Communications Building (Bldg 20) in Lecture Room 2
Further information: Contact Professor Will Price on (02) 4221 3509`
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