It turns out that non-soy beans, including lentils, lima beans, navy beans, and pinto beans, can drop bad cholesterol levels as effectively as soy protein—an eight-point drop in LDL cholesterol,2578 compared to five (mg/dL) for soy.2579 But, if you separate out the studies, natural soy products, such as soymilk and soybeans, really do seem to pull ahead, leading to an average eleven-point drop in LDL
