Soy isoflavones and bone
What 2 graded rows on soy isoflavones agree on for bone, and where they differ. Counted side by side, never averaged.
Consensus finder Rows from the Soy isoflavones page, reviewed Oct 21, 2026 How it decides
What the rows agree on
Each block and row is one graded row from the Soy isoflavones page, with its PubMed record.
Your question
Soy isoflavones and bone
2 rows · 10,459 peopleSplit. 1 row found an improvement and 1 found no difference.
- BGrade B× 1
- ∅No effect× 1
- Rows
- 2
- Trials
- 75
- People
- 10,459
- Pooled reviews may count some twice
Where they differ
From the rowsThe best-graded row, grade B, is a meta-analysis of 9,026 people (2024) and found an improvement. 1 row is graded No effect, our grade for adequately powered trials that found no effect.
The row that found an improvement was larger: 9,026 people, against 1,433 people for the row that found no difference.
The row that found an improvement is newer (2024) than the row that found no difference (2010).
The rows
1 improved · 1 no difference- BGrade BBone mineral density after menopause · Improved
Meta-analysis, 63 studies · n 9,026 · 2024 · Postmenopausal women in 63 RCTs (4,754 on isoflavones, 4,272 on placebo)
Varied; benefit seen when genistein was at least 50 mg/day · Varied; benefit seen at 12 months or longer
Bone density rose slightly vs placebo at the lumbar spine (MD 0.0175 g/cm²), femoral neck (0.0172 g/cm²) and distal radius (0.0138 g/cm²).
Row on the Soy isoflavones page · PubMed 37875614 (opens PubMed)
- ∅No effectLumbar spine bone mineral density · No difference
Meta-analysis, 12 studies · n 1,433 · 2010 · Perimenopausal and postmenopausal Western women in 12 studies
Varied across studies · Varied across studies
No significant effect on spine bone density; excluding the genistein study, mixtures showed no bone-sparing effect. Higher doses or longer use did not change this.
Row on the Soy isoflavones page · PubMed 20673147 (opens PubMed)