Soy can be beneficial to women’s hearts as long as they begin early, a new study suggests. The study was published online on July 30 in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society.

Researchers from the Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC, discovered that lifelong soy consumption amounts to the lowest amount of atherosclerosis.

According to WebMD, atherosclerosis is the hardening and narrowing of the arteries, a progressive process that often causes heart attacks, strokes, and peripheral vascular disease.

Researchers found that maintaining a diet rich in soy, as is the case with women in Asia, can reduce cardiovascular disease. However, they noted that following a Western diet after menopause leads to the same amounts of atherosclerosis as is in a lifelong Western diet. Additionally, researchers discovered that women who move from a Western diet to one rich in soy after menopause only benefit if they do not already have too much atherosclerosis.

Margery Gass, MD, Executive Director of the North American Menopause Society, said in a statement, “This study underscores how important it is for women to get into the best cardiovascular shape they can before menopause. The healthy habits they start then will carry them through the years to come.”