Soy milk and blood clotting markers in people with diabetic kidney disease
What it found
Drinking soy milk for 4 weeks lowered a blood clotting marker called d-dimer compared with cow's milk in people with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease.
It did not clearly change markers of inflammation or oxidative stress.
What they found
Studies in people
Blood clotting marker d-dimer
When people drank soy milk, their d-dimer levels dropped by about 3.77%. When they drank cow's milk, d-dimer rose by about 16.13%. This difference stayed even after accounting for how many carbohydrates they ate.
Inflammation markers unchanged
Soy milk did not clearly change several inflammation markers in the blood compared with cow's milk. One marker, hs-CRP, dropped by 35.45% on soy milk but rose by 36.76% on cow's milk. However, this difference disappeared once carbohydrate intake was factored in.
Oxidative stress unchanged
A blood marker linked to oxidative stress, called malondialdehyde, did not change significantly when people switched from cow's milk to soy milk.
Blood sugar and HbA1c
Fasting blood sugar and HbA1c, which measures long-term blood sugar control, were about the same whether people drank soy milk or cow's milk.
Other findings
Nutrients in the milks
Each 240 mL glass of soy milk had less phosphorus (53 mg) than cow's milk (120 mg). Soy milk also had slightly less protein, fat, carbohydrate, calcium, potassium and sodium than the cow's milk used.
What the authors conclude
- They conclude that drinking soy milk for 4 weeks lowered the blood clotting marker d-dimer in people with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease.
- They note that soy milk did not significantly change markers of inflammation or oxidative stress in these patients.
How it was done
Kidney disease is a major cause of illness and death in people with diabetes, and inflammation and blood clotting play a part in it. The authors wanted to see if drinking soy milk instead of cow's milk could improve these factors, since soy milk has less phosphorus.
They studied 25 adults with type 2 diabetes and early kidney disease. Each person drank one glass (240 mL) of soy milk every day for 4 weeks and cow's milk for another 4 weeks, with a 2-week break in between. Blood tests were taken before and after each period.
What it can’t tell you
- The study only lasted 4 weeks per drink, so it cannot show what happens over months or years.
- Only 25 people finished the trial, so the results might differ in a larger group.
- The researchers only measured one marker of oxidative stress, which may not give a full picture.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran
The paper
- Title
- Soy milk consumption, inflammation, coagulation, and oxidative stress among type 2 diabetic patients with nephropathy
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Miraghajani MS, Esmaillzadeh A, Najafabadi MM, Mirlohi M, Azadbakht L (2012). Soy milk consumption, inflammation, coagulation, and oxidative stress among type 2 diabetic patients with nephropathy. Diabetes care. doi:10.2337/dc12-0250Free full textPubMed 22787172DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error