A new research has revealed that regular, moderate soy consumption can help reduce the risk of death and recurrence of cancer in women who have suffered from breast cancer. Also, the reduced risk of death and consumption of soy is true for women with "estrogen receptor-positive cancers" as well as women who are on tamoxifen.

"We found that women with a history of breast cancer who consumed moderate amounts of soy food were doing better in terms of prognosis. They had reduced mortality and reduced recurrence", said study author Dr. Xiao Ou Shu, a Professor of Medicine and a Cancer Epidemiologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville.

There have been some previous speculations that consumption of soy can actually worsen the condition, as soy is what is known as a phytoestrogen, which means that it can actually act like a "weak form of estrogen in the body". However, the study has managed to subvert these beliefs by confirming that soy actually "reduces the availability of naturally occurring estrogen by binding to its receptors".

As per the study, which has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association's December 09 issue, foods with soy have very similar effects to tamoxifen, a drug which is used to block the action of estrogen in the body to help treat estrogen fueled cancers.