By Bae Ji-sook
Staff reporter
Including tofu in your daily diet could contribute to better health by lowering chances of getting gastric cancer by 90 percent, a group of local doctors revealed earlier this month.
The secret lies in the soy, a main ingredient in the recipe of many everyday-dishes of Korea such as Doenjangguk (soy paste soup), Kongjaban (bean reduction with soy sauce) and others.
Doctors at Seoul National University Hospital and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracked the health of 20,000 people between 2000 and 2009 and found that the prevalence of gastric cancer among people who enjoy eating soy was a ratio of nine out of 10,000 while the ratio jumped to 100 of 10,000 people who do not like eating the food. "It means soy could lessen the risk of cancer by up to 91 percent," Professor Yu Geun-young said.
The researchers assume the isoflavon from the soy protein prevents cancer moles from getting larges and helps the cancer cell destroy itself. The researchers also recorded that isoflavon restrained helicobacter pylori, which is the main cause of gastric cancer.
Yu said this is the first research that verified the direct relation between soy and gastric cancer. "It is hopeful news to people who enjoy salty foods or are already infected with helicobacter pylori already," he said. In order to prevent the cancer they need to eat more than one bowl of soy-rice and one portion of tofu a day.
The researchers are now looking into the possibility of soy lessening the risk of breast cancer and prostatic cancer.