URBANA, Ill., May 2 A University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign study suggests that soy consumption may reduce weight by increasing metabolism."We wanted to compare the effects of soy protein hydrolysates and soy peptides with those of leptin because we hypothesized that soy might behave in the body in a similar way. Leptin is a hormone produced in our adipose tissue that interacts with receptors in the brain and signals us that we are full so we stop eating," researcher Elvira de Mejia said in a statement. "We found that soy did have an effect on these mechanisms and hormones that are induced in the body to help us degrade lipids and reduce body weight, but it did so by boosting metabolism and not by reducing food intake." Weight loss is a complex physiological event. It's not always as simple as "Eat less or exercise more." Losing weight is a cascade of many steps, beginning with the production of certain hormones and continuing with their action in the brain and some people are resistant to these hormones, de Mejia told the Experimental Biology meeting in Washington. Copyright 2007 by UPI
