Effects of Dietary Soy Protein on Facial Wrinkles in Postmenopausal Women

Soy and soy-derived products are the primary dietary sources of isoflavones, particularly daidzein and genistein, for humans. Isoflavones are noted to have several effects on the skin including proliferation of keratinocytes resulting in epidermal thickening and increasing collagen and moisture content of the skin. Previous work has shown that the ingestion of an oral supplement containing soy isoflavones as a component led to a clinically measurable improvement in wrinkle depth after 14 weeks of supplementation. Ingestion of soy-based products has been shown to shift the Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli among the gut microbiota and modulate the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes. Many studies have shown that short-chain fatty acids result from beneficial shifts in the gut microbiome and may influence the inflammatory state of the skin. Therefore, the study aims to investigate whether soy-derived isoflavone can reduce wrinkles and alter both gut microbiome and short-chain fatty acids.