The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of soybean intake on bone mineral density and bone turnover markers in postmenopausal rural Korean women.

This study was carried out during nine months from Oct. 25 2004 to Aug. 31 2005. The subjects of this study were female patients over 50 living in rural areas diagnosed with osteoporosis. There were 18 women in the experimental group and 20 in the control group. In this study, the experimental group received 100 mg of isoflavone (soybean) and calcium 1,500 mg for nine months while the control group received 1,500mg of calcium only.

After the soybean intake, the change of bone mineral density between the experimental group and control group was statistically significant. However, the bone turnover markers of osteocalcin and deoxypyridinoline between the experimental group and control group were not significantly different statistically. In the Pearson Correlation between bone mineral density and bone turnover markers, the osteocalcin and deoxypyridinoline of the experimental group had a positive correlation, and osteocalcin and DPD/osteocalcin ratio had anegative correlation. In the control group, osteocalcin and DPD/osteocalcin ratio had a negative correlation.

This result showed that soybean intake changed bone mineral density in postmenopausal woman.