Soy And Man Boobs

This is a slightly controversial article on soy. I advise to avoid soy completely as its a phytoestrogen – meaning it’s a plant derived oestrogen (the female hormone) and it behaves similarly to it in the body. I’ve personally met someone who has suffered from its effects, namely grew man boobs. He was consuming half a litre of soy milk after his work out with a protein shake. Studies have been done in Switzerland that revealed babies who were fed soy formula grew up with severe defects later on. Why take the risk is what I say?! It’s undeniable that its a form of oestrogen. An increase is not a good thing for men. I guess you could test it and see what happens – or stick to every other protein source. I know it’s more challenging as a vegetarian but there are a host of other plant based protein sources.

Soybeans are a rich source of a set of molecules called “isoflavones.” These substances have weak estrogen (female hormone) activity and have been used for years as “natural” remedies for hot flashes in menopausal women. Since male transgender patients take estrogens to stimulate breast growth, it has been assumed that soy might have the same effect. This appears to be a myth, or at least is not supported in the medical literature.

Probably the greatest amount of research on the long-term effects of soy has to do with soy infant formulas. Some kids can’t tolerate regular formula and get switched to formula derived from soybeans and they’ll drink this stuff from infancy to one-year of age and beyond. Some kids are raised on soy milk instead of cow’s milk their whole lives. A 2004 Italian study of kids raised on soy protein formulas showed no gynecomastia, no early puberty, no changes in their bones and no other signs of screwed up hormones.

I should point out that searching”soy and gynecomastia” in the National Institute of Health database only spews out three articles, but you’ll be happy to know that the reproductive tracts of male macaques were not adversely affected by ingesting soy. There is one interesting case report of a 60-year-old man who developed big ol’ hooters and presented to a gland clinic for an answer. His gynecomastia eventually went away when they discovered he was drinking 3/4 of a GALLON of soy milk A DAY and told him to cut it out. With all the millions of people who ingest soy daily (there are countries where soy is a staple of the “normal” diet) the fact that there is one case report of one guy whose breast tissue was sensitive to soy products is reassuring to me.

Read whole article on Men’s Health