Soy Protein bad for men? True or False?

anask4

Hey everyone. There seems to be a school of thought that says soy protein (soy products in general) is bad for men as it leads to elevated estrogen levels (or something like that) which in turn leads to decreased testosterone levels and therefore impaired muscle gains. I tried to do some research into the topic and cant find conclusive evidence either way. The reason I ask is because I am a college student and a lot of my meals are on the go and so I eat a lot of protein bars (I also love them and would eat them even if time wasn't an issue). I usually eat 2 protein bars a day (I do try to pick the ones that are all or mostly natural). Some of the bars I like, Cliff Builder Bars among others, contain soy protein isolate. Being a male, should I avoid products with soy protein or is it all just a bunch of BS?

Thanks for the input

squirrelzzrule22

my understanding of this is that it takes quite a considerable soy intake to have any measurable affect on hormones. but I'm not an expert.

Athos282

It tastes like *kitten*...that's enough for me.

strozman

I avoid soy, cause it sucks. I doubt you would get enough in your diet to kill your gainz

ishakamir

anask4 wrote: »

Hey everyone. There seems to be a school of thought that says soy protein (soy products in general) is bad for men as it leads to elevated estrogen levels (or something like that) which in turn leads to decreased testosterone levels and therefore impaired muscle gains. I tried to do some research into the topic and cant find conclusive evidence either way. The reason I ask is because I am a college student and a lot of my meals are on the go and so I eat a lot of protein bars (I also love them and would eat them even if time wasn't an issue). I usually eat 2 protein bars a day (I do try to pick the ones that are all or mostly natural). Some of the bars I like, Cliff Builder Bars among others, contain soy protein isolate. Being a male, should I avoid products with soy protein or is it all just a bunch of BS?

Thanks for the input

As a doctor i can gurantee that high level of soy intake increase your estrogen blood level and on long run may produce some symptoms you won't like, it's not a great source of protein anyway, but it's good for post-menopausal women

_Terrapin_

ishakamir wrote: »

anask4 wrote: »

Hey everyone. There seems to be a school of thought that says soy protein (soy products in general) is bad for men as it leads to elevated estrogen levels (or something like that) which in turn leads to decreased testosterone levels and therefore impaired muscle gains. I tried to do some research into the topic and cant find conclusive evidence either way. The reason I ask is because I am a college student and a lot of my meals are on the go and so I eat a lot of protein bars (I also love them and would eat them even if time wasn't an issue). I usually eat 2 protein bars a day (I do try to pick the ones that are all or mostly natural). Some of the bars I like, Cliff Builder Bars among others, contain soy protein isolate. Being a male, should I avoid products with soy protein or is it all just a bunch of BS?

Thanks for the input

As a doctor i can gurantee that high level of soy intake increase your estrogen blood level and on long run may produce some symptoms you won't like, it's not a great source of protein anyway, but it's good for post-menopausal women

Thanks doc! Not often we get a 23 year old doctor visiting the site. Interesting advice.

drepublic

Avoid Protein Bars altogether. Price per serving sucks and you can get much higher quality from other sources...or even make your own bars. Honestly...just carry around shaker cup with high quality whey protein and just add water at snack time or your pre-workout meal. Need carbs? Then grind up some oats with that protein in the shake cup and still add water.

jennifershoo

Soy sucks. Everyone should avoid it. It's hard because it's in everything, but I would not buy straight soy on purpose.

KETOGENICGURL

read for yourself...http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/soys-negative-effects/

I remember years ago reading how the SOY LOBBY turned cattle feed/ bean waste into "a healthy drink" by marketing alone.
"This is How Soy Became Pushed as a 'Health Food'!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZY16QZQlGw#t=33 <<short 4 min video

http://www.naturalhealthstrategies.com/dangers-of-soy.html

Springfield1970

I've recently given up milk and replaced it with soy. I couldn't believe how sick it made me! Tummy pains, gas, the d word that I can't spell, and enough nausea to make me think I was pregnant!

Never again. I read a book about how estrogen dominance can really screw things up, and there's plenty of things out there that mimic estrogen, like soy, water and food kept in plastic, the list goes on.

Alpro do hazelnut and almond milk, delicious.

I get my protein from other sources, and can tolerate greek yoghurt.

theutahdesertfox

jennifershoo wrote: »

Soy sucks. Everyone should avoid it. It's hard because it's in everything, but I would not buy straight soy on purpose.

This. Soy is horrible in so many ways...for everyone. (Unless it is fermented soy which is a different thing altogether.)

There may be several reasons why people choose soy; vegan/vegeterianism, allergies to whey/milk, etc...but if you're looking into it as a protein source look somewhere else.

lynndot1

Hmm...I spent undergrad studying agriculture sciences and food science so this is a bit specific for me, haha.

Long story short: no. No food you eat in any amount will affect your endocrine system - it doesn't matter if it's meat, veg, soy, dairy, whatever, there just isn't enough of anything for it to matter to your body.

Let's put this in perspective:

1 serving of beef is about 1.2ng estrogen
1 glass of milk is about 500ng estrogen
1 egg is about 900ng estrogen
1 serving of cabbage has about 2,000ng estrogen

1 birth control pill contains 30,000ng estrogen. See the difference? And women have to take birth control pills at the same time every single day for it to affect their body. As you can see you'd need to eat an insane amount of food to reach anywhere near that level. I should also point out that your body only absorbs about 40% of the hormones in food, whatever food it is - so multiply all those above by 0.40 and now it's even less.

It's probably also worth mentioning that the average man produces about 140,000ng of estrogen on his own every single day. A non-pregnant woman that jumps to nearly 500,000ng.

I don't like the taste of soy so don't really eat it, but no it's not going to mess up your endocrine system unless you're eating considerable amounts of it. If you're looking for a dairy replacement and don't want soy, almond milk is very popular. My roommate in college was a vegan and did rice milk, never got into that. Since I used to work on a dairy I'll just say whole milk is the way to go :P

anask4

Thanks for the solid advice guys I appreciate it!

monikker

From what I've read and understand, soy is not a bad source of protein at all, it just depends on the quality and how it was made. When I get soy milk, I get organic unsweetened West Soy brand. I've been sticking with dairy milk lately but don't be afraid to have some. My protein powder has soy isolate in it but it isn't the primary protein - I feel good having different sources of protein and when reading absorption/bioavailability comparisons between proteins, soy came out on top with whey above meat, egg and other vegetable proteins like wheat or hemp.

arditarose

Soy. Yuck. I used to eat A LOT of it. Like, in addition to everything it's in that I was unaware of. I felt horrible and I wasn't smart enough to figure out what it was on my own.

Wheelhouse15

The first protein I ever used was death flavoured Wieder soy. I'll stick to whey.

anask4

my thing is that it just so happens that the protein source in many protein bars is soy protein isolate (im guessing its really cheap). Its not like I can taste the soy, i was just worried about the hormonal implications.
Regardless I will avoid eating anything with soy in it on a regular basis.

tlblood

I'm not sure how it would affect men, but I read that it's even not recommended for women trying to conceive because it can impact hormone levels.