[quote]Professor X wrote:
I’m sorry, but who is writing that Soy is that damned influential when it comes to someone’s hormonal profile?
[/quote]
There was an article recently on this site. Here’s part of it.
"Soy lowers Testosterone levels! Just about all soy products on the market contain the phytoestrogens (plant estrogens) known as isoflavones. Plant estrogens have lowered Testosterone levels in rats, monkeys, and other animals as well as humans. For grown men, this usually leads to decreased libido and lower sperm count. There’s an old wives tale that Japanese women punish their straying husbands by feeding them a lot of tofu!
We can joke about that but not about the effect on baby boys fed soy formula. Pediatricians are reporting more and more cases of emasculated boys reaching puberty with breasts and tiny penises. Undescended testicles are also far more common than they were in the past.
Remember too that soy estrogens damage far more than the reproductive system. The thyroid is usually hurt first, leading to loss of energy, weight gain, depression, lethargy and a host of other symptoms."
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1512419
Here’s an older article by your favourite author.
"The reason why soy is so bad basically boils down to the isoflavones that it contains. Two of these isoflavones, genistein and daidzein, are what cause the majority of negative effects seen with soy protein use.
These two villains bind readily to Estrogen Receptors. One such receptor is the Alpha receptor and the other, of course, is the Beta receptor. The Alpha receptor is the one generally associated with breast tumors, increased body fat, water retention, etc. The Beta receptor really isn’t something to worry about. Anyhow, genistein and daidzein can bind rather well to the Alpha receptor.
No big deal right? Well, it might actually be somewhat beneficial if they didn’t activate transcription to any significant degree, as this would be what’s considered an anti-estrogenic action. In other words, it would be good if the compound binded to the site and didn’t cause any growth, while preventing any naturally-produced estrogen from binding (the estrogen “parking spots” would already be filled). However, genistein does activate transcription to a significant degree after binding to the Alpha receptor and therefore will cause growth of tissues"
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459861
This site aside, there’s a ton of other WebPages that say Soy effects your hormonal levels. A lot of them reference to studies as well. Here’s one article that’s slightly hysterical, but mirrors what some of the experts are saying on this site.
"If you’re a grownup, you’re already developed, and you’re able to fight off some of the damaging effects of soy. Babies aren’t so fortunate. Research is now showing that when you feed your baby soy formula, you’re giving him or her the equivalent of five birth control pills a day. A baby’s endocrine system just can’t cope with that kind of massive assault, so some damage is inevitable. At the extreme, the damage can be fatal.
Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality."
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53327
[quote]Professor X wrote:
I know a bodybuilder who can’t eat eggs or any milk products. he gets much of his extra protein from soy. He is also more developed and in better shape than nearly all of the pictures I have seen posted on this site from the forums here.[/quote]
What are you trying to prove with this one-man case study? Maybe some people are more tolerant to Soy than others.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
It is one thing to simply avoid soy based on the possibility…and quite another to start acting like we need to be filing for child abuse because parents are feeding it to kids.[/quote]
I don’t really know what you’re trying to imply here. Have I mentioned filing for child abuse? I’m simply concerned for the well being of a family member.