People who drink little to no alcohol can develop non-alcoholic fatty liver disease due to obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, or a diet high in fat. A 2019 study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition looked at the effect of adding soy milk to the diets of people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Compared to people on a low-calorie diet, people who drank about a cup of soy milk combined with a low-calorie diet for eight weeks saw reduced levels of liver inflammation and enzymes connected to liver injury.
Metabolic syndrome can increase your risk of diabetes, stroke, and heart disease because it’s tied to conditions such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, and excess abdominal fat. The protein in soy might be able to address some of these factors, according to a 2014 study in the Journal of Nutrition. Postmenopausal women with abdominal obesity who swapped 30 grams of soy protein for some of the meat in their moderately high-protein diet improved insulin sensitivity, reduced total cholesterol by 4%, and lowered LDL cholesterol by 9% compared to diets without soy protein.