Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Intakes and sources of soya foods and isoflavones in a UK population cohort study (EPIC-Norfolk)

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 61, pages 248–254 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Background:

It has been suggested that the consumption of a diet rich in phytoestrogens might protect against a variety of diseases common in Western societies. However, there are little available data on the food sources or distribution of intake in the UK diet.

Objective:

To estimate the average intake and range of soya foods and isoflavones in a population-based cohort and to provide data on isoflavone consumption by food group.

Subjects:

Men and women (11 843) from the Norfolk arm of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

Methods:

Dietary daidzein and genistein intakes were obtained from 7-day food diaries, completed by participants between 1993 and 1998 and calculated from an in-house food composition database. Energy and anthropometric measurements were also carried out.

Results:

Average daily isoflavone intakes for both men and women were less than 1 mg (interquartile range (IQR) men: 0.39–0.82 mg; women: 0.30–0.64 mg). However, in soya-consumers, average daily intakes were higher: 8.6 mg in women (IQR: 2.28–10.72 mg) and 7.5 mg in men (IQR: 2.22–9.17 mg). In both men and women, bread and bread rolls made the highest contribution to isoflavone intake – 62.5 and 53.0%, respectively. In soya-consuming men and women, vegetable dishes and milks were the main contributors – 25.0 and 38.5% in men and 38.5% and 26.0% in women, respectively.

Conclusions:

Isoflavone intake is low in the UK but may be an underestimate due to soya added to commercial products. Future analyses of the isoflavone and lignan content of basic ingredient foods and commercial items commonly consumed in the UK diet will enable more accurate estimates of phytoestrogen intake to be made. The ability to estimate isoflavone intake in Western populations more accurately will enable investigations to be conducted into the suggested beneficial effects of phytoestrogens on health.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adlercreutz H (1990). Western diet and Western diseases: some hormonal and biochemical mechanisms and associations. Scand J Clin Lab Invest 201 (Suppl 50), 3–23.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Adlercreutz H, Mazur W (1997). Phyto-oestrogens and Western diseases. Ann Med 29, 95–120.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Antignac JP, Cariou R, Le Bizec B, Cravedi JP, Andre F (2003). Identification of phytoestrogens in bovine milk using liquid chromatography/electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom 17, 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arai Y, Uehara M, Sato Y, Kimira M, Eboshida A, Adlercreutz H et al. (2000). Comparison of isoflavones among dietary intake, plasma concentration and urinary excretion for accurate estimation of phytoestrogen intake. J Epidemiol 10 (2), 127–135.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bingham SA, Welch AA, McTaggart A, Mulligan AA, Runswick SA, Luben R et al. (2001). Nutritional methods in the European prospective investigation of cancer in Norfolk. Public Health Nutr 4 (3), 847–858.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Boker LK, Van der Schouw YT, De Kleijn MJ, Jacques PF, Grobbee DE, Peeters PH (2002). Intake of dietary phytoestrogens by Dutch women. J Nutr 132 (6), 1319–1328.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chan W, Brown J, Church SM, Buss DH (1996). Meat Products and Dishes. Sixth supplement to McCance and Widdowson's The Composition of Foods, 5th edn, Royal Society of Chemistry: Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan W, Brown JB, Buss DH (1994). Miscellaneous Foods. Fourth Supplement to McCance and Widdowson's The Composition of Foods, 5th edn, Royal Society of Chemistry: Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke DB, Barnes KA, Lloyd AS (2004). Determination of unusual soya and non-soya phytoestrogen sources in beer, fish products and other foods. Food Add Con 21 (10), 949–962.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke DB, Lloyd AS (2004). Dietary exposure estimates of isoflavones from the 1998 UK Total Diet Study. Food Add Con 21 (4), 305–316.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (2001). Working Group on Phytoestrogen Paper PEG/2001/24: Amendment to the Isoflavone Intake Assessment. Food Standards Agency: London.

  • Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (2003). COT Report – Phytoestrogens and Health. Food Standards Agency: London.

  • De Kleijn MJJ, Van der Schouw YT, Wilson PWF, Grobbee DE, Jacques PF (2002). Dietary intake of phytoestrogens is associated with a favourable metabolic cardiovascular risk profile in postmenopausal US women: The Framingham Study. J Nutr 132 (2), 276–282.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • ENDS (1996). Supermarkets demand segregation of genetically modified soya. ENDS Report 258, 26.

  • Grace PB, Taylor JI, Low Y-L, Luben RN, Mulligan AA, Botting NP et al. (2004). Phytoestrogen concentrations in serum and spot urine as biomarkers for dietary phytoestrogen intake and their relation to breast cancer risk in European Prospective Investigation of Cancer and Nutrition-Norfolk. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 13, 698–708.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greendale GA, Fitzgerald G, Huang MH, Sternfeld B, Gold E, Seeman T et al. (2002). Dietary soy isoflavones and bone mineral density: results from the study of women's health across the nation. Am J Epidemiol 155 (8), 746–754.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ho SC, Woo JLF, Leung SSF, Sham ALK, LAM TH, Janus ED (2000). Intake of soy products is associated with better plasma lipid profiles in the Hong Kong Chinese population. J Nutr 130, 2590–2593.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holland B, Brown JB, Buss DH (1993). Fish and Fish Products. Third Supplement to McCance and Widdowson's The Composition of Foods, 5th edn, Royal Society of Chemistry: Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holland B, Unwin ID, Buss DH (1988). Cereals and Cereal Products. Third Supplement to McCance and Widdowson's The Composition of Foods, 4th edn, Royal Society of Chemistry: Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holland B, Unwin ID, Buss DH (1989). Milk Products and Eggs. Fourth Supplement to McCance and Widdowson's The Composition of Foods, 4th edn, Royal Society of Chemistry: Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holland B, Welch AA, Buss DH (1992). Vegetable Dishes. Second Supplement to McCance and Widdowson's The Composition of Foods, 5th edn, Royal Society of Chemistry: Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holland B, Welch AA, Unwin ID, Buss DH, Paul AA, Southgate DAT (1991). McCance and Widdowson's The Composition of Foods, 5th edn, Royal Society of Chemistry: Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horn-Ross PL, Barnes S, Lee M, Coward L, Mandel JE, Koo J et al. (2000). Assessing phytoestrogen exposure in epidemiologic studies: development of a database (United States). Cancer Causes Control 11, 289–298.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Keinan-Boker L, Peeters PHM, Mulligan AA, Navarro C, Slimani N, and the Epic Soy Group Consumption (2002). Soy product consumption in 10 European countries: the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. Public Health Nutr 5 (6 B), 1217–1226.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kiely M, Faughnan M, Wahala K, Brants H, Mulligan A (2003). Phyto-oestrogen levels in foods: the design and construction of the VENUS database. Br J Nutr 89 (Supp1), S19–S23.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kikuchi Y, Shimamura Y, Hirokado M, Yasuda K, Nishijima M (2001). Daily intake of isoflavones based on the market basket method. Journal of the Food Hygiene Society of Japan 42 (2), 122–127.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kimira M, Arai Y, Shimoi K, Watanabe S (1998). Japanese intake of flavonoids and isoflavonoids from foods. J Epidemiol 8 (3), 168–175.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • King RA, Mano MM, Head RJ (1998). Assessment of isoflavonoid concentrations in Australian bovine milk samples. J Dairy Res 65 (3), 479–489.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Liggins J, Bluck LJC, Runswick S, Atkinson C, Coward WA, Bingham SA (2000a). Daidzein and genistein contents of fruits and nuts. J Nutr Biochem 11, 326–331.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liggins J, Bluck LJC, Runswick S, Atkinson C, Coward WA, Bingham SA (2000b). Daidzein and genistein contents of vegetables. Br J Nutr 84, 717–725.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liggins J, Mulligan A, Runswick S, Bingham SA (2002). Daidzein and genistein content of cereals. Eur J Clin Nutr 56 (10), 961–966.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Low Y-L, Taylor JI, Grace PB, Dowsett M, Scollen S, Dunning AM et al. (2005). Phytoestrogen exposure correlation with plasma estradiol in postmenopausal women in European Prospective Investigation of Cancer and Nutrition-Norfolk may involve diet-gene interactions. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 14 (1), 213–220.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mazur WM, Wahala K, Rasku S, Salakka A, Hase T, Adlercreutz H (1998). Lignan and isoflavonoid concentrations in tea and coffee. Br J Nutr 79, 37–45.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ritchie MR, Cummings JH, Morton MS, Steel MC, Bolton-Smith C, Riches AC (2006). A newly constructed and validated isoflavone database for the assessment of total genistein and daidzein intake. Br J Nutr 95 (1), 204–213.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Valsta LM, Kilkkinen A, Mazur W, Nurmi T, Lampi AM, Ovaskainen ML et al. (2003). Phyto-oestrogen database of foods and average intake in Finland. Br J Nutr 89 (Suppl 1), S31–S38.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Erp-Baart MAJ, Brants HAM, Kiely M, Mulligan A, Turrini A, Sermoneta C et al. (2003). Isoflavone intake in four different European countries: the VENUS approach. Br J Nutr 89 (Suppl 1), S25–S30.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Verkasalo PK, Appleby PN, Allen NE, Davey G, Adlercreutz H, Key TJ (2001). Soya intake and plasma concentrations of daidzein and genistein: validity of dietary assessment among eighty British women (Oxford arm of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition). Br J Nutr 86, 415–421.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Welch AA, McTaggart A, Mulligan AA, Luben R, Walker N, Khaw KT et al. (2001). DINER (Data Into Nutrients for Epidemiological Research) – a new data-entry program for nutritional analysis in the Epic-Norfolk cohort and the 7-day diary method. Public Health Nutr 4 (6), 1253–1265.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank all the participants of the EPIC-Norfolk study and the EPIC staff for all their help with this work and the Food Standards Agency and the Medical Research Council for their financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health and Primary Care, EPIC, Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Worts Causeway, Cambridge, UK

    A A Mulligan, A A Welch, A A McTaggart & A Bhaniani

  2. MRC Dunn Human Nutrition Unit, Wellcome Trust/MRC Building, Cambridge, UK

    S A Bingham

Authors
  1. A A Mulligan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A A Welch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. A A McTaggart
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. A Bhaniani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. S A Bingham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S A Bingham.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mulligan, A., Welch, A., McTaggart, A. et al. Intakes and sources of soya foods and isoflavones in a UK population cohort study (EPIC-Norfolk). Eur J Clin Nutr 61, 248–254 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602509

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602509

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links