The Hormonal Effects of Soy

[Pontormo]

Daniel:

See Busboy's original thread and Old Foodie's linked SCIENTIFIC article. Homophobic fears and terror of men becoming girly are linked, irrational aspects of a culture that still associates huge, fatty hamburgers at Burger King with masculinity and plant-based food sources with femininity.

There is an interesting and wackoo book out there by Piero Camporesi that maintains the reason there were so many visionary people expecting miracles right and left back in medieval Europe is because everyone was either famished to the point of delusion or strung-out on mold spores since no one knew anything about food safety back then.

It doesn't mean you're going to have a close and intimate conversation with Cleopatra next week if you stop scraping off the rind of your favorite soft cheese .

If you belong to Netflix, I'd suggest ordering a bunch of films from Asian cultures in which soy beans were cultivated long before the West had discovered how to scratch itself. Observe closely the numbers of blood-thirsty warriors whose voices never rise above a bass level on the soundtrack even though Kurosawa is known for feeding mapo tofu to his actors. Cf. the numbers of sensitive heterosexual sons, robust homosexual men, shy women, strong heterosexual women, repressed businessmen, motherly mothers, bewitching ghosts, dumb fat slobs, adorable little boys and precious little girly girls in films directed by Ozu, Mizoguchi, Koreeda, Wong, Ang Lee et al. I believe that when Tony Leung's character dined with his lovely neighbor during In the Mood for Love, he ordered tofu. Trust me, it didn't make him any more resistible.

I bought a package of tofu yesterday. I'll let you know if I find myself wearing more pearls, high heels and lace this week than is my norm.

BTW: walnuts, peanuts, almonds, chickpeas, lentils, black beans, cannellini, and Rancho Gordo are your friends.

[annanstee]

I really wish people would pay more attention to the negative sides of soy.  It is not a miracle product for vegans.  Several universities have produced studies on its impact with the health of women (young), increasing birth defect possibilities and breast cancer significantly if consumed regularly in the diet.  It also has a hand in impaling the thyroid gland.

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I really wish people would pay more attention to the negative sides of soy.  It is not a miracle product for vegans.  Several universities have produced studies on its impact with the health of women (young), increasing birth defect possibilities and breast cancer significantly if consumed regularly in the diet.  It also has a hand in impaling the thyroid gland.[...]

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Impaling the thyroid gland! Sounds fatal!

me to read more carefully...] Infants should be fed mother's milk (if at all possible), not soy. I don't see where that has anything to do with adults having problems from eating tofu and soybean sprouts.

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I have thyroid disease (hypo) and have been told to limit my soy intake as it is known to inhibit the thyroid gland, although my endo said "if your thyroid is dead, what harm can it do? In moderation, the benefits outweigh the risks".

I was advised by my Dr. not to use Soy Formula for my kid, as it can have endocrinal effects similar to estrogen. It does not make sense to me to give it to a baby, unless it is allergic to milk protein.

As per the article Daniel linked, the guy is not a Dr. or a Scientist. He is presenting a political viewpoint, and it is risable.

[Toliver]

I've seen a few news articles (note I didn't say studies) that suggested that the increase in estrogen and phytoestrogens in our environment (e.g. phytoestrogens are often used in laundry detergent) has led to the decrease in male sperm counts in the Western world.

If anything, too much estrogen will make you female, not gay. Ask any male transexual taking hormone therapy.

If eating too much soy would have such an extreme effect on Vegans, don't you think someone would have noticed it by now? I say go ahead with the Vegan experiment. You will be a wiser person for it even if you return to your pork-lovin' ways.

[Pyewacket]

If everyone is so concerned about estrogens in our food having an effect on the sexual development of our children, don't you think a discussion of the added hormones in milk and meat, especially chicken, might be in order?

Chickens and beeves are fed grain that contains huge amounts of estrogens and other hormones to make them grow larger breast muscles and more evenly fatted meat. Milk cows are given hormone injections to lengthen the period of milk production and milk output. Growth hormone is contained in most milk products on American market shelves. The stuff is everywhere.

I have serious doubts that the "over-estrogenization" of our youngsters comes from soy. One of the symptomatic trends is that over the past fifty or sixty years boys and girls have been beginning puberty at an earlier and earlier age. While 15 used to be an average age for girls to start their periods, 10-11 is now the norm. I'm inclined to think it comes from a diet high in cheap animal protein since most kids don't really that much soy.

[annanstee]

If everyone is so concerned about estrogens in our food having an effect on the sexual development of our children, don't you think a discussion of the added hormones in milk and meat, especially chicken, might be in order?

Chickens and beeves are fed grain that contains huge amounts of estrogens and other hormones to make them grow larger breast muscles and more evenly fatted meat. Milk cows are given hormone injections to lengthen the period of milk production and milk output. Growth hormone is contained in most milk products on American market shelves. The stuff is everywhere.

I have serious doubts that the "over-estrogenization" of our youngsters comes from soy. One of the symptomatic trends is that over the past fifty or sixty years boys and girls have been beginning puberty at an earlier and earlier age. While 15 used to be an average age for girls to start their periods, 10-11 is now the norm.  I'm inclined to think it comes from a diet high in cheap animal protein since most kids don't really that much soy.

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Good point. I don't think that we have the same bovine growth hormone use in Canada though, and we have also seen patterns of accelerated puberty. The answer is likely bigger than any one foodstuff.

[scott123]

If everyone is so concerned about estrogens in our food having an effect on the sexual development of our children, don't you think a discussion of the added hormones in milk and meat, especially chicken, might be in order?

Chickens and beeves are fed grain that contains huge amounts of estrogens and other hormones to make them grow larger breast muscles and more evenly fatted meat.

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Chickens are not fed grain that contains hormones. At least not in the U.S. Feeding chickens hormones has been illegal since 1952.

Gold Kist Farms

Question: Are hormones used in the raising of chickens?

Answer: Chickens produced or sold in the United States contain no added or artificial hormones. The U.S. government strictly regulates all feed additives and has never permitted any type of hormones to be added to feed or otherwise given to chickens. Federal regulations also prohibit the use of added steroids in poultry.