Too Much Soy Decreases Your Sperm Count
March 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment
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One of the greatest health food on the market can be bad for you if you’re a guy. Especially with the new wave of eating organic foods and avoiding red meat, we try to replace the “red meat protein” with other natural protein.
Soy foods like tofu, soymilk and soy meat substitutes have been climbing the popularity charts. Even though your soymilk and tofu lunch might be organic but too much can reduce your sperm count and give you “man boobs”.
Studies & Findings
One of the studies from Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center in Boston conducted a study with two groups of healthy young males aged 20-30. The researchers gave the first group of guys meals containing low doses of soy and second group of guys ate meals mainly containing soy for 6 weeks. The researchers found that men who ate high doses of soy foods had lower sperm count compared to who ate less soy foods.
All thanks to isoflavones, which is a chemical that is from soy, binds and interfere with male’s estrogen receptors (yes, we men have estrogen receptors), slowing down the production of sperms.
On the bright side, the levels of soy intake did not affect the health of the sperm
How Much is Too Much?
During the studies, the group who received high doses of soy foods actually received two servings per day for two weeks.
Source: Human Reproduction: July 23, 2008
