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Eating tofu at least once a day appears to heighten memory loss among the elderly, a study of 719 Indonesians shows.
London - Eating high levels of some soya products - including tofu - may raise the risk of memory loss, research suggests.
The study, led by the British-based Loughborough University, focused on 719 elderly Indonesians living in urban and rural regions of Java, and was published in the journal Dementias and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders.
The researchers found that high tofu consumption - at least once a day - was associated with worse memory, particularly among the over-68s, BBC News reported.
Soya products, rich in micronutrients called phytoestrogens, which mimic the impact of the female sex hormone oestrogen, are a major alternative protein source to meat for many people in the developing world.
There is some evidence that they may protect the brains of younger and middle-aged people from damage - but their effect on the ageing brain is less clear.
The latest study suggests that high amounts of phytoestrogens may actually heighten the risk of dementia.
Lead researcher Professor Eef Hogervorst said previous research had linked oestrogen therapy to a doubling of dementia risk in the over-65s.
She said oestrogens - and probably phytoestrogens - tended to promote growth among cells, not necessarily a good thing in the ageing brain.
Alternatively, high doses of oestrogens might promote the damage caused to cells by particles known as free radicals.
A third theory is that damage is caused not by the tofu, but by formaldehyde, which is sometimes used in Indonesia as a preservative.
The researchers admit that more research is required to ascertain whether the same effects are found in other ethnic groups.
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