Is soya bad for men?

[Woolley]

Hi guys,

I have around a litre of soya milk everyday and recently got told by some cow's milk drinker that soya is bad for males. Does anyone know anymore about this?

Will

[harpy]

Hello. There are a few threads about the health implications of soya already if you look at this section of the forum. My (non-expert) feeling is that moderate amounts are likely to be OK - not sure what I'd call moderate but a litre a day of anything seems quite a lot!

I think the concern is the hormone-like effect of a type of chemical called phytoestrogen. There is some information about the pros and cons of that here: http://e.hormone.tulane.edu/learning/phytoestrogens.html

[Flora]

I typed 'dangers of soy' in google and got 262.000 results. I typed 'benefits of soy' and got 302.000 results. ('Dangers of milk' got 11.000.000 results!) So who should we believe? The sites and studies showing the dangers of soy might be sponsored by the dairy industry and those about the benefits by the soy industry.
I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. Soy has some good points and some bad points. I do think however that a litre of soymilk a day is a bit too much. I think it is a good idea to try to replace some of the soy milk by for example rice, oat or nut milk (you can make these yourself if you want).

[Woolley]

Thanks guys,

Im keen for Almond milk too

[Mollfie]

My boyfriend loves soy milk, tofu etc. His mum tells him it's bad for him, his view is that asian men, and others, has been consuming soy for years and they all seem perfectly fine. Aslong as you don't have too much you'll be fine. Same with anything really.

Why do you drink a litre a day? Drink something else.

[Johnstuff]

I have loads of soya, in tea, coffee, cereal, hot chotolate and I love soya burgers n tofu too!

If there was a risk I would think pregnant women and young babies/children would be most at risk?

[kikifromscotland]

I think the risk is supposedly to male fertility. I think all tests done so far have been inconclusive. My boyfriend first found out about this yesterday, he's into bodybuilding and takes protein shakes, I suggested he use pea or soya protein instead of whey. He then came back with a couple of articles about the dangers of soy, I was like "been there, read it" and showed him other articles that refute soya dangers and that point out the benefits, and pointed out the Asia/ population despite consumption of soya, plus I got him some body building articles about soya protein being positive. It ended with him saying oh well who cares and only god knows, and he has decided to stick with whey because he knows it works :(.

Despite my skepticism about so called soya dangers, until there's any conclusive evidence I'd still not recommend very large quantities of soya for men in particular and err on the side of caution.

[Woolley]

People obviously think a Litre is a lot. It is less than 2 pints.. A carton from the supermarket is a litre. Its well easy to drink this amount in a day. 1 latte, 2 cups of tea, 1 bowl of cereal and a glass of soya all easily adds to a litre. I am currently at work with a litre carton of Oatly I bought from Sainsbury's in Camden! Added vitamins and Calcium.. Its nice but doesnt beat So Good Soya!

[anthony]

The only people I've know who had issue with over consumption of soy, were bodybuilders. As tofu, and soymilk and the like have lots of protein they seem to be a goo source for bulking up.

One kid in particular ate about 6-10 pounds of tofu a day, eventually his hormones got visibly wacky. I'll spare you the details.

But yeah. I'd imagine you'd be fine. Not that my opinion is worth all that much.

[harpy]

It just sounds a lot - we only get through about 0.5 litre a week - but I can't see any studies that indicate what (if any) level might be problematic. There are a couple of studies referenced on the Wikipedia article about phytoestrogens which you could check out, but it sounds as if (as I've heard before) soy extracts in fast food are likely to be more of a problem than relatively unprocessed products like soy milk.

If you've been consuming it at that level for a while you might have noticed yourself if it was having dramatic effects on your hormones, and you haven't mentioned any :D

[Glen Lambert]

Jeez it takes me the best part of a week to get through a litre.

Weren't some of the more pervasive 'soya is bad for you' arguments made by those with a vested interest in dairy? I'm sure I saw something recently in the Guardian Online.

[Johnstuff]

Jeez it takes me the best part of a week to get through a litre.

Weren't some of the more pervasive 'soya is bad for you' arguments made by those with a vested interest in dairy? I'm sure I saw something recently in the Guardian Online.

Wouldn't suprise me in the slightest! The hormones, anti-biotics, fat and cholesterol in cow's milk would be much worse I bet!

[Glen Lambert]

Here is the link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/aug/08/comment.lifeandhealth

[Mollfie]

It takes me aaaages to get through a litre of soy milk. It usually goes off before I finish it T__T;

[harpy]

I agree that a lot of anti-soya material seems to emanate from the meat and dairy industries (mainly in the U.S. I think). However that doesn't mean that large amounts of soya couldn't have undesirable side effects - the fact that there is some evidence that soya is beneficial in menopause suggests to me that it could have some quasi-hormonal properties that might affect people who aren't menopausal women differently, if you see what I mean.

Still, as we don't know what constitutes a large amount that's not terribly helpful :o Probably as long as you have a varied diet with lots of different unprocessed veg and so on you're on the right lines.

[Glen Lambert]

A lot of anything is probably bad for you.

[cobweb]

We get through about 10 litres of soya milk a week between 3 of us in our house! :eek:. Plus a load of tofu, soy sausages, yoghurts, etc. The only thing I'm vaguely concerned about is that my son's Thyroid function is a bit low, apparently, and I have read links between high Soya consumption and Hypothyroidism. I still think that it has to better than dairy products which are full of artificial hormones :confused:.

[Flora]

I am starting to make some more variation in my foods concerning soy. There are oat,rice and other 'milks' available ( I made my own oat-milk today but it needs a bit of tweaking).
You can also make yoghurt of those other 'milks' just search how to make yoghurt yourself but substitute the milk for a grain or nut milk and the yoghurt for soy-(or other non dairy)yoghurt.
Seitan and falafel can be made too (or you can buy them at stores)
I don't think soy is poison or something but variation is a good thing and better safe then sound.

[cobweb]

Yeah I LOVE seitan, I must have a go at making it myself.

[Woolley]

We get through about 10 litres of soya milk a week between 3 of us in our house! :eek:. Plus a load of tofu, soy sausages, yoghurts, etc. The only thing I'm vaguely concerned about is that my son's Thyroid function is a bit low, apparently, and I have read links between high Soya consumption and Hypothyroidism. I still think that it has to better than dairy products which are full of artificial hormones :confused:.

Yeah I have a low thyroid function and am on 200 thyroxine a day.... Maybe there is a link here !

[Back-Space]

I've made some almond milk which was pretty good. Couldn't quite get all the little bits of almond out, but it wasn't so bad. Then I mixed a vegan chocolate syrup in with it :D Someone told me to mix a banana in with it too. Gives it a little more flavour, and a thicker texture. I couldn't notice much of a difference between the taste of chocolate milk, and the taste of almond chocolate milk :) It's just a hassle to try and make...

[harpy]

There is some evidence that soya consumption may affect thyroid function if you don't get enough iodine, according to this review article

http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/thy.2006.16.249

[nn]

Whatever happened to water! Water is much better for you, Woolley. Personally I think that you drink far too much soy milk. My flatmates don't even have that much moo milk!

Being a guy too, I drink one litre of soy milk in around 2-3 days but I also drink fresh orange juice with lunch/dinner (to help non-haem iron absortion) and anywhere from 4 to 6 litres of water per day. There is so much other drinks you could have. Diversify! After all, that is the secret to success on a vegan 'diet'.

[Tigerlily]

According to dietitians in Canada, the recommended serving for "milk and alternatives (soy milk)" is at 2 cups/500ml for adults 19-50. So, yes you are drinking more soy milk than recommended. (http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/choose-choix/milk-lait/need-besoin-eng.php)

So if you're drinking a litre a day + soy in other forms (tofu, faux meats, soy cheese, additives in foods, etc), you could possibly be consuming too much soy. I'd vary it up a bit.

[Hemlock]

Corum doesn't drink it as he doesn't want man boobs!!! I drink loads as it's good for the menopause. I think that tells you something :-o