Soy Sadly Does Not Improve Your Brain

Despite previous thought that soy helped improve thinking and memory, researchers have disproved the myth in a 2.5-year study.

350 women from 45 to 92 years old were randomly provided with daily 25 grams of soy protein or a placebo. The groups were given neuropsychological tests at the start of the study, and once more at the end of the 2.5-year trial.

Researchers from Stanford and USC crunched numbers and determined that there was no cognitive difference between the two groups. "Soy is a staple of many traditional Asian diets and has been thought possibly to improve cognition in postmenopausal women. Our study found long-term use of soy protein neither improved nor impaired overall cognition," study author Victor Henderson said.

On the bright side, soy doesn't seem to hinder cognition, and researchers even found a slight improvement in visual memory (facial recognition) by about 13 percent. But if you're looking to get a bit smarter, eat some fish and avoid sugar.