Soy-based dietary supplements have been shown to boost the effect of a low-fat diet in lowering cholesterol in people without diabetes. Now people with type 2 diabetes (adult-onset diabetes) may also benefit, according to a study in the February issue of Diabetes Care.

"Soy-based dietary supplementation seems to possess the ability to effectively reduce [cholesterol] levels in people with type 2 diabetes who are especially prone to develop heart disease," reported lead author Kjeld Hermansen, M.D., an associate professor of endocrinology at Aarhus University Hospital in Aarhus, Denmark. Hermansen added that use of soy supplements should be combined with lifestyle changes such as increased exercise, smoking cessation and a low-fat diet.

The study was conducted over a 15-week period using 20 patients with type 2 diabetes. For six weeks, they received a soy supplement. Then they took nothing for three weeks. Then they took a placebo for six weeks. The patients' cholesterol levels were significantly lower after the six weeks of soy supplements than after taking the inactive placebo drug.