Phytoestrogens Bioactive substances with hormonal effects

Phytoestrogens Bioactive substances with hormonal effects

Structure and properties

From a chemical perspective, phytoestrogens belong to the polyphenols group and are divided into three structural classes: the isoflavones, the lignans, and the coumestans. Because of their specific effect, the phytoestrogens are classified as an independent group. Its name is derived from the estrogenic activity of all phytoestrogens. They thus act in the human organism in a similar way to the female sex hormone estradiol. It is mostly due to the element that they are structurally very similar to 17-β-estradiol. However, they have a significantly weaker effect (only approx. 0.1%) than the animal organism's estrogens. By interacting with the estrogen receptors, they can imitate or block the hormone's physiological effects. Depending on the endogenous estradiol level, phytoestrogens can exert an estrogenic or anti-estrogenic influence, which is why they are classified as SERM (selective estrogen receptor modulator or selective estrogen receptor modulator). They develop their anti-estrogenic effect because their hormone-like chemical structure binds to the receptor for 17-β-estradiol and thus competitively inhibits it. A phenolic hydroxyl group is a prerequisite for estrogen activity. They attach with their hormone-like chemical structure to the receptor for 17-β-estradiol and thus inhibit it competitively. A phenolic hydroxyl group is a prerequisite for estrogen activity. They bind with their hormone-like chemical structure to the receptor for 17-β-estradiol and thus inhibit it competitively. A phenolic hydroxyl group is a prerequisite for estrogen activity. techbizcenter

Functions and tasks

Phytoestrogens have a variety of effects. Above all, they have an anti-carcinogenic, antioxidant, and cholesterol-lowering effect and stimulate the immune system. Phytoestrogens also have antibacterial, antiviral, and fungicidal properties.

Estrogenic and anti-estrogenic effects

Phytoestrogens act as weak estrogens in the human body. In the body, they bind to the same receptors as the body's estrogens, although their hormonal effects are much fewer than that of the body's estrogens. They only have 0.1% of the body's own estrogens' development. However,technologywebdesign phytoestrogens can also have an anti-estrogen effect because by attaching to the sex hormone receptors, they inhibit the effective estrogens' binding and thus weaken their products. Besides, the synthesis of the sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) is increased so that more estrogen is bound and inactivated in the blood.

On the one hand, phytoestrogens have a meaningfully lower effect than endogenous estrogen. On the other hand, they can be present in the body in an attentiveness 100 to 10,000 times higher than the endogenic estrogens. They can be both oestrogenic and exert anti-estrogenic effects. marketingmediaweb

However, phytoestrogens also have health-promoting effects. They inhibit the formation of hormone-dependent tumor types such as breast, uterine lining, and prostate cancer and thus have an anti-carcinogenic effect. As antioxidants, they may protect against cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. They are also said to have a protective effect on menopausal symptoms (i.e., menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, headaches and back pain, mood swings, depression). answerhop

Anti-carcinogenic effect

Epidemiological studies show that these substances have a protective effect, especially in hormone-related cancers such as breast, endometrial, and prostate cancer. Hormone-related cancers are less likely to occur on a diet high in soybeans, whole grains, and other high-fiber foods, such as those on a traditional Japanese or vegetarian diet. For example, Asian women are five times less likely to develop breast cancer than American or European women. However, there is probably a big difference whether people take large amounts of phytoestrogens childhood and or rest of life, as is the case with women in Asia or where only from 45 or 50 Phytoestrogens are absorbed in relatively high quantities. Furthermore, other factors presumably also play a role in the lower incidence of breast cancer in Asian women, such as a lower body mass index (BMI) and increased consumption of other foods such as fish.

The mortality rate from prostate cancer in men is also significantly lower in Asia than in American or European men. However, urine tests of these groups of people who traditionally follow a Japanese or vegetarian diet show only small amounts of the plant isoflavonoids and lignans. It suggests that the body absorbs only a few substances in their original form. tipsfromcomputertechs Only lignans and isoflavonoids specific for mammals were measured in high amounts in the urine. Investigations in the USA and Finland on the determination of isoflavonoids and lignans in women's urine showed the highest concentrations for enterolactone. The uptake of plant isoflavonoids and lignans is therefore positively related to the excretion of the urine's corresponding substances.

Further studies in the USA, India, Finland, Japan, and Australia examined the diet, the excretion of isoflavonoids and lignans in the urine, and the frequency of hormone-dependent cancers in women. Women in Finland and the USA were divided into lacto-vegans and mixed dieters according to their eating habits. In addition, a group of women on a macrobiotic diet was included in the USA.

This study's result: Macrobiotics and lacto-vegetarians excreted high concentrations of isoflavonoids and lignans in the urine. The mixed dieters showed a lower enterolactone excretion and had the highest risk of breast cancer of all the groups examined. The deficient levels of lignan excretion in the urine of breast cancer patients in Finland and the USA support the assumption that lignans have a protective effect against breast cancer. However, it is unclear to what extent cancer affects lignan excretion. A lower mortality rate for hormone-related cancers resulted from the traditional diet of Japanese women and men who ate many isoflavonoid-containing soybean products. In a case-control study, urinary phytoestrogen levels were also measured in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer in Australia. It turned out that a high excretion of equol and enterolactone correlated with a significantly lower risk of breast cancer. digitalmarketingtrick

In countries with isoflavone-rich foods, the incidence of hormone-dependent malignancies such as breast and prostate cancer has been shown below. In Japan, it was demonstrated that a long-term intake of 25 mg isoflavones compared to a diet containing only 7 mg isoflavones per day could reduce the risk of breast cancer by over 50%. The isoflavonoid genistein may have a protective effect against brain tumors.

Since phytoestrogens protect against both hormone-related and non-hormone-related cancers (e.g., colon cancer), several mechanisms are probably responsible for a protective effect. The lignans enterolactone, enterodiol, and matairesinol and the isoflavonoids daidzein, genistein, equol, and O-desmethylangolensin showed weak estrogen activity and probably influence hormone metabolism and hormone production. They develop their anti-estrogen effect by blocking the estrogen receptors and stimulating the formation of an estrogen-binding protein, leading to a decrease in the concentration of free estrogen in the blood. Besides, isoflavonoids and lignans have a cytotoxic effect, which presumably also inhibits cancer development.

READ MORE ABOUT TECHNOLOGY ENTHUSIASTS @ webtechradar