Nutritional changes among premenopausal women undertaking a soya based dietary intervention study in Hawaii

We conducted a 2-year nutritional intervention among premenopausal women. The goal was to incorporate two daily servings of soya into the regular diet. This report describes the dietary modifications and assesses their nutritional adequacy with regard to major nutrients.

In this analysis of 100 intervention and 106 control subjects, women completed a validated food-frequency questionnaire at baseline; throughout the study, they participated in at least three unannounced 24-h recalls.

At randomization, both groups were similar in age and body weight, reported low soya intake, and did not differ by intake of major nutrients and foods. According to the 24-h recalls, women in the intervention group consumed nearly two servings of soya per day, while the control women remained at 0.2 servings. In comparison with the control group, the intervention group consumed fewer dairy products, primarily milk, but also less meat, nuts and seeds. As a result of the dietary modification, the intervention women consumed less-saturated fat and cholesterol and more protein, dietary fibre, calcium and vitamins than the control group.

These results suggest that women in the intervention group improved the overall quality of their diet by adding two servings of soya per day.