Men who eat tofu and other soy products could save themselves from both baldness and prostate cancer, Colorado State University researches say.

In a new report, they say they found that a byproduct of soy can stop the male hormone dihydrotestosterone, or DHT, from promoting prostate-cancer growth.

DHT is also a major cause of male-pattern baldness, so by handcuffing the hormone, soy could also help men keep their hair.

"We have a long way to go, but it's interesting because it's a natural compound," said Dr. Robert Handa, professor of biomedical science at Colorado State University.

Soy contains plant compounds that can be converted into a hormone-like molecule, equol, Handa said. The researches found that equol is a natural, powerful blocker of DHT.

The researches first removed the testes from male rats, then injected DHT, and saw that the rats' prostate grew. When they injected both equol and DHT, the equol prevented the DHT from functioning normally, so it didn't stimulate prostate growth.

Past strategies to deal with prostate cancer and baldness have tried to stop DHT from being produced. But those approaches had bad side effects because they blocked some of the good that male hormones do.

The new approach doesn't prevent DHT from being made, but prevents it from functioning, Handa said. Equol blocked the negative effects of DHT without changing male hormone levels.

"To date, no other compound has been shown to directly bind DHT," said lead author Trend Lund, as assistant professor of biomedical sciences at CSU.

Handa and Lund worked with Ken Setchell, of Cincinnati's Children's Hospital, who discovered equol 20 years ago.

Their report appears in a 2004 issue of Biology of Reproduction.


Source: Bill Scanlon, Scripps Howard News`Service