“Eating a lot of soybean products has the effect of improving children’s thinking and attention skills.”

U.S. research team: “Isoflavone ingredients enhance cognitive ability in children”

Research has shown that consuming a lot of soy foods can improve children’s thinking and attention skills. Researchers said that the isoflavones contained in soybeans appear to have a positive effect on children’s cognitive abilities.

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Professor Naiman A. Kahn’s team at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, studied the relationship between isoflavone intake and cognitive ability in children aged 7 to 13 at the American Dietetic Association annual meeting (NUTRITION 2024) held in Chicago on the 2nd (local time). Bo said that he obtained these results in an experiment.

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“In the United States, soy foods are often not included in children’s diets,” said researcher Azla Bristina, a doctoral candidate. “This study suggests that the nutrients contained in soy foods are increasingly important for children’s cognitive abilities.” He said.

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Isoflavones are a component found in legumes such as soybeans and have a similar function to the female hormone estrogen, so they are called ‘phytoestrogens’.

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The research team pointed out that although previous studies in adults have shown that isoflavones can improve memory, the effects on children have not been studied in detail.

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In this study, the research team surveyed the intake of various nutrients, such as isoflavones and vitamins, through 7-day dietary records of 128 children aged 7 to 13, and then evaluated their general intelligence through a written test.

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Next, attention was measured through computer tasks and information processing speed and attention were measured by recording brain wave (EEG) activity.

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Children’s daily isoflavone intake varied greatly, ranging from 0 mg to 35 mg, but the average was 1.33 mg, indicating that their usual intake of soy foods was generally low.

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In an attention experiment, children who consumed a lot of soy foods containing isoflavones showed faster responses in attention tasks and faster information processing speed.

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However, the research team found that no significant correlation was observed between isoflavone intake and general intellectual ability.

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Researcher Bristina said that 240 ml of soy milk contains 28 mg of isoflavone, 1 cup of tofu contains 35 mg, and half a cup of peas contains 18 mg. He said that roasted beans, peas, soy milk, and tofu can be good sources of isoflavones for children. .

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He added that this study provides evidence for the health benefits of soy foods rich in isoflavones, but that more specific clinical trials are needed to determine exactly the amount of soy foods needed to improve children’s cognitive abilities.