Soy Shakes and Belly Fat: Great NEWS!

Getting a little round around the middle? No longer able to pass it off as post pregnancy weight since your oldest just entered college?

You're not alone. And, you probably don't need me to tell you that excess weight that accumulates in the mid section is worse for your heart than those jiggly thighs you've been dying to get rid of since the 8o's. (Even though it's clear most of us would trade the jiggly thighs for just about any other problem.)

Still . . . its your heart I'm concerned about – which is one reason I'm so excited to pass along the findings from what could be a very important new medical study in this area.

More specifically, doctors at the University of Alabama found that drinking a daily Soy Milk Shake may play a role in how your body distributes your fat cells - and it may help keep fat away from the stomach area, particuarly in women.

The new report just published in the journal Fertility and Sterility found a component of soy-- a natural chemical known as isoflavone is what seems to do the trick.

The double blind, placebo controlled study assigned 15 women (average age 55) with an average BMI of 30, to drink either a placebo shake or a soy shake, containing 20mg of soy protein plus 160 mg of isoflavones, every day for three months.

The result: While neither group lost any weight, xray tests revealed the women who drank the soy shakes appeared to have less fat around their mid section than they did prior to when the study began! More specifically, the soy group had a 14.7 sq. cm reduction in belly fat, then the placebo group, who had a 22.9 sq cm increase in belly fat.

And remember, neither group lost any weight.

Although researchers say they don't quite understand the result, they do note this is the first study to suggest that components of soy may play a role in fat distribution – and that drinking soy protein shakes may, in fact, be one way that post menopausal women can help to control the level of belly fat which seems to accumulate more readily after age 55.

If you want to give the soy shakes a try, here's a link to an inexpensive brand similar in it's nutritional profile to what was used in the study. They come in vanilla and chocolate and they are yummy! Just don't wash them down with a box of doughnuts. :)