Soy Lecithin

Soy lecithin is taken from the beans of the soy plant.

Soy lecithin, like soy isoflavone concentrate, is an extract of the soybean. It contains a substance called phosphatidylcholine (PC), which is responsible for its medicinal effects. PC is a major part of the membranes surrounding the cells. But when it is consumed, it is broken down into the nutrient choline rather than being carried directly to cell membranes. Choline is used to make acetylcholine, a nerve chemical essential for proper brain function.

Soy lecithin provides the building blocks of healthy cell membranes, preventing damage especially to blood and liver cells by oxidation, free radicals, and toxins. Lecithin can also be used as a fat synthesizer that helps the body process fats better. More recently, lecithin has been proposed as a remedy for various psychological and neurological diseases, including Tourette's syndrome, Alzheimer's disease, and bipolar mood disorder (manic-depressive disorder).

Benefits of soy lecithin for specific health conditions include the following:

• Alcoholism, cirrhosis of the liver, and liver cancer. Numerous clinical and laboratory studies have shown that soy lecithin can protect the liver from damage caused by alcohol, tetrachlorides found in cleaning solvents, the prescription medication paracetamol, and galactosamine, a protein that can irritate the liver. In laboratory studies of chronic hepatitis, soy lecithin has shown an ability to protect the liver against fatty deposits and fibrosis, the development of nonfunctional fibrous tissue. Soy lecithin works on liver cell membranes, helping the membranes to renew and repair themselves.
• Alzheimer's disease and memory problems. Soy lecithin is a source of phosphatidylcholine, an essential element in the lining of brain cells. Providing additional phosphatidylcholine has a modest effect on Alzheimer's disease, but this supplement is especially beneficial when used with the prescription medication tacrine (Cognex), which helps the brain conserve phosphatidylcholine. Soy lecithin not only provides phosphatidylcholine, but helps to transport tacrine to the brain. Soy lecithin also reduces memory loss in smokers and people with high blood pressure, conditions in which large numbers of free radicals that damage brain tissue are generated.
• Atherosclerosis, gallstones, and high cholesterol. Soy lecithin can reduce blood-cholesterol levels. This occurs through a complex process in which partially digested lecithin is chemically reassembled in the intestinal wall into a form that attracts cholesterol. The lecithin then "steers" larger particles of low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad") cholesterol to the liver, where it is broken down and converted into smaller particles of high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or "good") cholesterol. Soy lecithin's ability to reduce cholesterol production helps to prevent the formation of gallstones because most gallstones are composed mostly of cholesterol.
• Hangover. Soy lecithin not only helps protect the liver against the effects of alcohol, but helps to ease hangover symptoms. It fights fatigue and hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, by stopping free-radical activity that would desensitize liver cells to low blood-sugar levels. In addition, soy lecithin ensures that the liver releases glucose to cover skipped meals.
• Multiple sclerosis (MS). Soy lecithin contains phosphatidylserine, a chemical that reduces production of an immune system chemical called tumor necrosis factor (TNF). In people with multiple sclerosis, TNF signals immune-system cells called macrophages to attack nerve cells. People with MS generally have low levels of phosphatidylserine in their blood.

Soy lecithin may cause mild diarrhea when first used. Although soy lecithin helps reverse alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver, it is important to stop, or at least sharply reduce, alcohol intake when using lecithin.

Ordinary lecithin contains about 10 to 20 percent phosphatidylcholine. However, European research has tended to use soy lecithin products concentrated to contain 90-percent phosphatidylcholine. The following dosages are based on the more concentrated product. For psychological and neurological conditions, researchers have used doses of up to 5 to 10 grams (5,000 to 10,000 milligrams) three times daily. For liver disease, typical doses have been 350 to 500 milligrams taken three times daily. For high cholesterol, doses of 500 to 900 milligrams taken three times daily are common.