THE SOYDIET® PLAN
A complementary composition of mung bean sprouts
and oat bran
Effects in a calorie-controlled diet.
DIETING AND HEALTH
Unless other pathological factors are involved, overweight owe
mainly to three factor: - we eat too much , - we eat the wrong
foods (lacking also of variety) , - we do not exercise enough
(contribute to muscle tone and a trimmer, healthier body). Excess
weight, however, is not just a question of physical appearance,
it may hide a number of less visible problems, such as cholesterol
clogging the arteries, stress on the heart through having to move
that extra weight around and general lack of energy.
The world is full of people who have tried to lose weight at
one time or another, for one reason or another. There are plenty
of fad diets on offer, all promising high-speed weight loss. There
are many problems, however, associated with fad or crash diets.
One is that weight is often regained as soon the diet ends. This
is because in most diets, the lean body mass is lost, not the
fat. Diets are often uncomfortable to bear - constipation, a feeling
of being constantly hungry, dizzy, etc., and so many people give
up half-way. From a health point of view, however, there is a
more serious problem - fad or crash diets tend to be as inadequate
as what the overweight person was eating before.
The bottom line is the vital nutrients are not present in the
quantity and proportion the body needs to function correctly.
Adequate exercise is also necessary to help the metabolism to
cope better with the stress.
Even as we lie down and stare at the ceiling, all kinds of activities
are going on inside our bodies. Blood and oxygen are being pumped
around, old cells are being destroyed and new ones are generated.
The body temperature is being kept stable, a myriad of signals
are being transmitted between the brain and the body. The latest
meal is digested into substances, our body can utilize. Substances
that cannot be used are either stored (fats) or passed for elimination.
Whether the body will be able to perform all these and other functions
correctly depends on the tools provided by the food we ingest.
Metabolism is the sum total of biochemical processes that make
function the body. For the numerous metabolic processes, enzymes
and other bio-substances are essential.
THE COMPOSITION OF SOYDIET®
The Soydiet is a supplement composed of mung bean sprout and
oat bran providing complex of vitamins, minerals, fibers and a
number of amino acids.
THE MUNG BEAN SPROUT ( Mung 21® )
Biochemistry: bean to bean sprout
The mung bean is well-known in the Orient as the "Golden grain".
The plant uses energy from the sun more efficiently than the average
plant to produce nutritive substances. These substances will concentrate
in the bean that is a storehouse of energy and of biosubstances,
a masterpiece of the mother plant in a dormant state. Over hundreds
of years, modern scientific researchers have been fascinated with
the process when seeds germinate, in other words, when they sprout.
Sprouting requires special conditions and when these conditions
are met, the bean will be transformed from the dormant state into
an active, living state. All the elements of biological importance
are present because reserve substances are metabolized to support
life. Polysaccharides are transformed into simple sugars; proteins
into amino acids; fats into fatty acids. Minerals are in liberated
form and vitamins and enzymes multiply intensely. Some substances,
such as vitamin C are actually produced by the new plant as they
did not exist in the original bean. Certain substances increase
in quantity (such as folic acid) compared to it's original weight.
Substances of particular importance for the human body
Just as the young sprout needs substances in bio-available form,
so does the human body. The substances in the bean sprout, play
an important role in the human body as well.
Let's list below some of the most important substances found
in bean sprout:
Free amino acids - arginine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, isoleucine,
leucine, lysine, phenylalanine and valine.
Numerous other amino acids are also present, although in smaller
quantities.
Mung bean sprouts contain vitamins B1, B2, and B3, folic acid,
C and E.
Sprouts are an excellent source of bio-available minerals and
trace elements. Trace elements are present in a low concentration
but play a crucial role with vitamins in enzyme functioning.
From sprouts to dehydrated concentrate
Sprouts are prepared from dry bean by soaking them in water.
After draining off the water, the soaked beans are placed in a
container in the dark for 2 to 7 days. A pound of dry beans yield
6 to 8 pounds of sprout with high water content (95%).
The resulting thick white fibers are dehydrated until humidity
is less than 5%. The product is then milled to a fine powder.
While mung bean sprout would normally have a high bacterial count
(several million), a special process ensures a low content of
bacteria.
OAT BRAN
Recently, clinical investigations have led to the conclusion
that heart and coronary diseases can be related to low fiber consumption.
A high cholesterol level, a major cause of these diseases, occurs
mainly due to unbalanced nutrition with low fiber content. In
human blood, cholesterol is an essential constituent, a natural
precursor for male and female hormones such as testosterone and
estrogen. When the concentration of cholesterol rises too high,
it causes arteriosclerosis or clogging the arteries.
Fibers, particularly oat fibers, act very positively on blood
cholesterol. The consumption of oats decreases low density and
increases the high density lipoprotein in the blood. It is a matter
of fact low density cholesterol precipitates on the artery walls
and high density cholesterol dissolves it. Most clinical studies
confirm the cholesterol lowering effects of oat fiber, particularly
its soluble fraction the beta-glucan.
SUMMARY OF THE CLINICAL STUDY INVOLVING SOYDIET
IN THE TREATMENT OF OBESITY AND POTENTIAL EXPLANATIONS AS TO THE
RESULTS OBTAINED
SUMMARY OF RESULTS OF CLINICAL TRIALS
Clinical trials were conducted recently at the Hungarian Department
of Obesity at the National Institute of Sports Medicine in Budapest,
Hungary, on 80 obese women and men by a team of health specialists
in hospital conditions. All of the patients were following a strict
low-calorie diet and exercise schedule. Half of them received
Soydiet supplement over a 3-week diet period (the test group)
and the other half did not receive the supplement and constituted
the control group. The results were as follows:
- Patients on SOYDIET lost 82% more fat and 5 times less lean
body mass than their counterparts in the control group.
- SOYDIET significantly decreased low density cholesterol (LDL)
and triglycerid levels in the blood.
- SOYDIET reduced blood sugar level.
- SOYDIET reduced appetite and resulted in better tolerance of
the low-calorie diet. Patients on SOYDIET reported more active
bowel movements and did not require laxatives. In the control
group, one third of the patients needed laxatives.
- No side effects were observed.
EXPLANATION OF THE RESULTS
The effect of the Soydiet on lean body mass might act as human
growth hormone (HGH) releasing factor because of the specific
amino acid content. It was already known that HGH treatment in
the elderly shows significant increases in lean body mass.
Arginine, in particular, is thought to be involved as it induces
an HGH peak without any effect on thyroid hormones. The HGH-binding
protein, in the presence of the hormone, prolongs HGH half-life,
and increases HGH activity. The level of hormone-binding protein
depends on the nutritional status of the individual.
We suppose that the amino acid content of Soydiet up-regulates
the HGH-binding protein. Our clinical study indicates that female
patients react in a more effective way than male patients. The
HGH might stimulate the production of estrogenic hormones. In
fact, in female rats, GH acts directly on the increase of the
estrogenic receptor level. GH also has an effect on the estrogenic
receptor protein levels. The fact that the fat level was reduced
might be due to the fiber of the oat bran, as well and not only
to the HGH.
The consumption of oat bran decreases serum cholesterol by alteration
of the bile metabolism and lowers low density lipoproteins. This
effect is probably mediated by beta-glucan, at least in hypercholesterolemic
subjects. It was observed that obesity and fiber intake correlates
well in the US population. On the basis of studies on humans,
it was concluded that soluble fibers may have a therapeutic effect
in reducing cholesterol and in improving glucose metabolism.
The HGH is described as an agent that reduces low density lipoprotein
(bad cholesterol) in middle-aged men and also increases the high
density lipoprotein level (good cholesterol).
The use of vegetable fibers with a high viscosity reduces the
levels of glycemia. The phenylalanine present in the product may
reduce the sensation of hunger. Fibers also reduce hunger and
constipation during low-calorie diets. They are recommended natural
laxatives.
We assume that the fiber content of Soydiet together with frequent
water intake and the action of phenylalanine are all responsible
for these effects of the product.
© Copyright 2000 Arcopharma
SA
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