Can Soy Really Make Guys "Girly"?

Tuesday, 30 June 2009

Can Soy Really Make Guys "Girly"?

(Can soy really make guys "girly"?)
I’m a soy fanatic. I love all kinds of soy products from soy beans, soy chips, soy milk, basically anything that has the word “soy” in it. The irresistible taste is just a perk, and the health benefits of soy are enormous. Not only is it packed with protein, but it’s also a good source of fiber, vitamins, and isoflavones (good news for women!), which can ease menopausal and PMS symptoms. But for men? Turns out, not so good.

Apparently, isoflavones in soy, which are similar to estrogen (female) hormones, can suppress their manliness and instead bring out their feminine side. I’ve never heard of this until one of my close male friends recently told me about it. Since then, whenever I offer him either soy chips or soy protein bars, he would sometimes react extremely and freak out telling me, “Do you really want me to become a girl” and refuse to take a bite. To be honest, with so much new health information these days, I don’t even know if this is true or not.

Have you heard about this dark side of soy? Do your male friends react the same way? Do you think men should completely avoid soy as a precaution?

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Comments (22)

This is total BS.
- 6/30/2009 7:09 PM
- Dare2BDiferentt@xanga (message)
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I don't buy it. Soy is an incredible product.
- 6/30/2009 7:10 PM
- Manstration@xanga (message)
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I've heard it increases estrogen for girls, so i'm assuming it would for males too. Although this is just rumour.. who knows if it's actually true or not.
- 6/30/2009 7:10 PM
- presque_la@xanga (message)
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No.
- 6/30/2009 7:12 PM
- Erika_Steele@xanga (message)
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Yes, of course, just like M&Ms make guys horny.
:P
- 6/30/2009 7:28 PM
- noree_n@xanga (message)
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Well, I'm sure it increases estrogen. But estrogen doesn't make you act like a girl. It makes you have boobs and female body fat distribution etc. First of all, it's probably not even enough to make the guy have boobs. Second, even if it was, if he is exercising regularly, it shouldn't matter because he would be fit and keep his testosterone level up.
- 6/30/2009 7:29 PM
- Strong_Protector@xanga (message)
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no, phytoestrogens cannot make men "girly" (and i assume you mean physiologically and not stereotypically). unless they tireslessly graze on it like cattle and also have ruminant digestive systems.
- 6/30/2009 7:44 PM
- MissPixieGlitter@xanga (message)
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Heard of it. But unless a man's main protein intake is soy, it will not have that large of an effect.
- 6/30/2009 8:07 PM
- tastytimmm@xanga (message)
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haha I just thought that was a stereotype! I don' think it's true though.. it's just an excuse for guys to refuse soy and maintain their "macho-ness"
- 6/30/2009 8:25 PM
- shes_lump@xanga (message)
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i learned that a few weeks back
was explaining to a friend how i used to be vegetarian and how much i love tofu
the guys backed away in horror saying tofu was their enemy XD
that was a fun day
- 6/30/2009 9:10 PM
- JoeytheGenie@xanga (message)
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Okay, firstly, to my knowledge yes...it can help increase estrogen in the body. Estrogen is the female hormone. Men have estrogen too, just like ladies have some testosterone. Everyone has their own unique levels of each, and usually men have alot more testosterone than estrogen and ladies more estrogen than testosterone -- unless you're middle aged and going through reverse puberty, which is when soy is awesome for you, but that's another story entirely xD

Unless guys eat alot of soy, though, it's not enough to screw up their unique balance of hormones. My brother's an example of this, because he did eat too much of it...and as he's not exactly fit, it gave him a mild case of man-boobs. I mean cardboard carton of soy milk a day, alot. Not "a bowl of soy chips".

If you're fit and you don't have alot, and are male, you'll be fine.

It does not make you "girly" in the cultural misconceptional sense, but it does imbalance your hormones which can cause symptoms that men would take as physiologically a bit more lady-like than they're probably comfortable with. Any other symptoms are caused directly by their own body's reaction to the imbalance and any other environmental factors (sometimes it's so negative that they may need to go to the hospital for a hormone injection to help balance you out).

A little every day's fine. Pay attention to your body's needs, stay active and fit, and nothing'll happen to you. It's just like everything else -- best not eaten in excess.
- 6/30/2009 9:24 PM
- MyFreedomWings@xanga (message)
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i think its not the isoflavones but the “Do you really want me to become a girl" fussing-over attitude which makes a guy girly.
jus man up and eat wateva u like dudes.
- 6/30/2009 9:28 PM
- thunder_kwan@xanga (message)
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i love soy because i'm lactose, but my brother drinks it too, he's not any less manly. well, if you even could call him a man.
- 6/30/2009 10:26 PM
- xx_ng_xx@xanga (message)
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@MyFreedomWings@xanga - You know what you're talking about.
My family substitutes soymilk for milk often, and we eat tofu a few times every week, but quite a few girls still think my little brother's pretty.."hot."
- 6/30/2009 11:47 PM
- InTheThin@xanga (message)
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http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA312211
- 7/1/2009 1:18 AM
- Nina1981@xanga (message)
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no, I haven't heard it.
- 7/1/2009 1:51 AM
- Jayleen (message)
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That sounds ridiculous. Soy is amazing and healthy!
- 7/1/2009 4:20 AM
- caromonster@xanga (message)
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Like anything else, moderation is key. I'm sure in excessive amounts, it may have an effect (like another commenter mentioned above with her brother), but under "normal" circumstances, I'm sure there is nothing to worry about.
- 7/1/2009 9:19 AM
- mercurychan@xanga (message)
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From what I've read you'd have to eat A WHOLE LOT of soy to have any problems. I've also heard in girls it can make it a little harder to get preggs (same reason, estrogen like isoflavones). Even with that said, would you trust your girlfriend to just drink soy milk everyday? Prob not, you'd still want her on birthcontrol.
- 7/1/2009 4:19 PM
- adept_of_chaos@xanga (message)
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My son loves soy milk cause real milk has puss in it, so we drink soy milk. I have heard this but even babies drink soymilk formula and they don't have problems. Yes- it has estrogen properties but that means the guy would have to eat/drink soy products 24/7 for it to cause harm.
- 7/2/2009 3:22 PM
- hippiepagan@xanga (message)
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I'm a male. When I started weight lifting, the first protein shake I used was whey. I didn't notice anything different during the course of taking it.

The next time I went to get a bucket of protein powder, I got soy. After about a week of taking it, I began to feel WAY more emotional than usual, and caught myself "feeling" and acting somewhat like a girl. It was an incredibly strange experience, and I hadn't biased myself with researchin soy beforehand, so I know it wasn't a "placebo" effect. Once I stopped taking soy, these feelings also stopped. I don't doubt that many people can take soy and not have these problems but for me it was an incredibly strange experience and I'll never take soy again.
- 1/10/2010 6:29 PM
- Curtis
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In the end I'm going to have sex with your wifes and girlfriends BUT you will not care too much. See I eliminated all prescription drugs, all msg/soy/canola/salflower/hcfs/aspartame frankenfood from my system and I'm hornier and harder today at 48 than I was when I was 16. You on the other hand will age early, continue to take statin drugs and encounter a plethora of disease conditions that are just now emerging as you ingest more and more toxic proteins from gmo crops. As a result of that you will find not only your capability, but your appetite for sex declilne rapidly as well. You will be weary, irritable, tired and depressed suffering from a lot of pain I know I was .. until I got wise.
- 3/10/2010 5:02 PM
- Damien
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