Kori-tofu and heart health markers in adults
What it found
In 45 adults with mildly high cholesterol, eating Kori-tofu bread for 4 weeks improved several heart and blood sugar markers compared with the start.
But these changes were mostly no different from a whey protein control bread.
What they found
Studies in people
Cholesterol changes
Within the Kori-tofu period, total cholesterol fell by 0.14 mmol/L (2.5%) and LDL cholesterol fell by 0.27 mmol/L (7.3%). HDL cholesterol also fell by 0.08 mmol/L (5.3%). None of these changes were significantly different from the control period.
Blood sugar markers
Within the Kori-tofu period, HbA1c dropped by 0.42 mmol/mol (1.1%) and fructosamine dropped by 6.1 μmol/L (2.3%). These changes were not seen in the control period, but the difference between periods was not significant, though HbA1c came close.
Blood pressure
Systolic blood pressure decreased significantly only during the Kori-tofu period. The change was not significantly different from the control period.
Adiponectin difference
The change in adiponectin levels was significantly different between the Kori-tofu and control periods. However, adiponectin did not change significantly within either period on its own.
Weight gain
Body weight increased slightly in both periods (0.4 kg with Kori-tofu, 0.3 kg with control). The increase was not different between the two.
What the authors conclude
“Observed improvements in cardiometabolic profiles after the Kori-tofu intervention did not significantly differ from control.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say that the improvements in cardiometabolic markers within the Kori-tofu period did not significantly differ from the control period.
- They conclude that there is currently no substantiating evidence to claim that Kori-tofu has beneficial effects on cardiometabolic health.
- They note that positive effects were seen within the Kori-tofu period, especially for glycaemic control, and call for more research.
How it was done
Soy is linked to better heart health markers, and Kori-tofu is a frozen soy tofu rich in soy protein. The authors wanted to see if eating it daily could improve heart and metabolic health in people.
They ran a double-blind randomized controlled cross-over trial with 45 men and women aged 40 to 70 who had mildly elevated cholesterol. Each person ate bread with 34 grams of Kori-tofu daily for 4 weeks and a control bread with whey protein for 4 weeks, with a 4-week break in between.
What it can’t tell you
- This was a 4-week trial, so it cannot show what would happen over a longer time.
- The study cannot show whether Kori-tofu works differently from regular soy protein, because it did not compare them.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by Asahimatsu Foods Company Limited (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- T.I. is employed by Asahimatsu Foods Company, all other authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Authors work at
- Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands; Food Research Laboratory, Japan
The paper
- Title
- Effect of 4-Week Consumption of Soy Kori-tofu on Cardiometabolic Health Markers: A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Cross-Over Trial in Adults with Mildly Elevated Cholesterol Levels
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- van den Belt M, van der Haar S, Oosterink E, van Loenhout T, Ishiguro T, Esser D (2022). Effect of 4-Week Consumption of Soy Kori-tofu on Cardiometabolic Health Markers: A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Cross-Over Trial in Adults with Mildly Elevated Cholesterol Levels. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu15010049Free full textPubMed 36615709DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error