Opinion of South African Pre- and Post-Menopausal Women on the Potential Menopause-Related Health Benefits of Soy and Soy products

The increased use of alternative treatment for menopausal symptoms is mainly due to women's changing opinions of conventional hormone replacement therapy (HRT). The objective of this study was to assess the opinion of preand post-menopausal South African women regarding the potential menopause-related health benefits of soy. The sample used for the study was a sub-dataset of 825 respondents; which included only pre- and post-menopausal women that had heard of soy before; selected from a representative sample of the adult South African metropolitan and rural populations. A structured questionnaire was used. Neither age nor racial groups differed practically significantly in opinion regarding any of the various statements. The study also shows that a practically significant lower proportion of women in the sub-population across both age and race groups had a positive opinion on the health benefits of soy as an alternative to HRT and reliever of menopausal symptoms than those who acknowledged its benefit for preventing cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. Practically significantly more women who used soy than women who never used soy agreed that soy keeps bones strong. In addition; more women who were of opinion that soy has few or no health benefits disagreed that soy could be used as an alternative to HRT compared to women who held a positive opinion

HIV-positive and HIV-negative consumers accept an instant soy maize porridge

The objective of this study was to assess consumer acceptability; preference and consumption intent of an instant soy maize porridge; compared to an instant plain maize porri- dge; in order to determine the successful inclusion of the soy maize porridge as a food supplement for HIV subjects in a subsequent nutrition intervention trial; to improve their nutritional status. A 5-point hedonic and food action rating scale was used for this purpose. HIV-positive (n=57) and HIV-negative (n=47) subjects were recruited on a basis of availability and willingness to participate. Long-term acceptability and compliance of HIV-positive consumers (n=9) was assessed after three and five months. Analysis of variance (ANOVA); Tukey's multiple comparison test and T-tests (p=0.05) were performed. Overall; consumers found the soy maize porridge significantly more acceptable; preferred it to; and also intended to consume it more often than the plain maize porridge. There were no significant differences between the HIV-positive and HIV-negative group regarding acceptability; preference and consumption intent. After three and five months; the HIV-positive consumers (n=9) did not find acceptability of the soy maize porridge significantly different from the first evaluation. It therefore had the potential to be included successfully in the nutrition intervention trial. The current study emphasises the need for sensory evaluation of food products prior to including them in intervention studies; to assess consumers' acceptance of them