Various studies in the past have yielded mixed and contradictory results of whether or not soy products are beneficial to women diagnosed with breast cancer.

Now a new research has found that soy products are indeed beneficial to cancer, but for patients who survived it.

Researchers studied a large group of breast cancer survivors in China and they found that a higher intake of soy food (up to 11 grams per day) was linked to a lower risk of death or recurrence of breast cancer during follow up.

Soy products are rich in isoflavones–a major group of plant-derived phytoestrogens which possess both estrogen-like and anti-estrogen actions.

In an email to Reuters Health, Dr. Xiao Ou Shu, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee observed, “The key take home message from our study is that moderate amount of soy food intake is safe and may reduce risk of mortality and recurrence among women with breast cancer.”

(via Yahoo News)