554 lines
24 KiB
Markdown
554 lines
24 KiB
Markdown
---
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created_at: '2013-11-29T02:36:43.000Z'
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title: Soy's Negative Effects (2009)
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url: http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/soys-negative-effects
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author: 001sky
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points: 52
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story_text: ''
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comment_text:
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num_comments: 46
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story_id:
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story_title:
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story_url:
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parent_id:
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created_at_i: 1385692603
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_tags:
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- story
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- author_001sky
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- story_6817587
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objectID: '6817587'
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year: 2009
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---
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“Men aren’t supposed to have breasts,” he says today in a quiet Texas
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drawl. “It was like my body was feminizing.”
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A lean and wiry man, the breast development stood in stark contrast to
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the rest of his body. But it was not Price's only symptom.
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His beard growth had slowed, he’d lost hair from his arms, chest, and
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legs, and he’d stopped waking up with morning erections.
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“My sexual desire disappeared,” he says. “My penis—I won’t say it
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atrophied, but it was so flaccid that it looked very small in comparison
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with the way it used to be. Even my emotions changed.”
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**Related: **[The Men’s Health Guide To Erectile Dysfunction: Everything
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You Need to Know to Keep Your Penis Healthy For
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Life](https://www.rodaleu.com/courses/the-mens-health-guide-to-erectile-dysfunction?utm_source=MensHealth&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=soy's-negative-effects)
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The first three doctors Price consulted diagnosed him with gynecomastia,
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or the abnormal enlargement of the mammary glands in men.
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Tests further revealed that estrogen levels in his bloodstream were
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eight times higher than the normal limits for men, higher even than the
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levels typically seen in healthy women. Price’s estrogen was so high, in
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fact, that the doctors were at a loss to explain it. One physician
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became so frustrated he eventually accused Price of secretly taking
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estrogen.
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“He thought I was a mental case,” says Price, still angry as he recalls
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the experience.
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Dispirited and in pain, he decided to try one more doctor, this time a
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fellow military man.
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**Related Video: **
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He made an appointment with Lieutenant Colonel Jack E. Lewi, M.D., chief
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of endocrinology at the San Antonio Military Medical Center. During that
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first meeting, neither doctor nor patient had any inkling of just how
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long and complex this medical mystery would prove to be.
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Dr. Lewi initially checked for “usual suspect” lifestyle factors known
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to trigger gynecomastia, from alcoholism to certain herbal ingredients,
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like tea-tree oils and lavender. With those ruled out, Dr. Lewi was left
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with a more dreaded suspect: an estrogen-secreting tumor.
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Over the next few months, Dr. Lewi ran multiple tests, checking Price
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for
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[cancer](http://www.menshealth.com/health/cancer-second-most-common-man-killer)
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of the testicles, adrenal glands, chest, and lungs.
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The good news: When the final test came back negative, Price was in the
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clear on all fronts. The not-so-good news: Dr. Lewi still had no clue
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what was causing his patient’s hormones to go haywire. But he was
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determined not to be the fourth doctor to leave James Price in limbo.
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In the classes that Dr. Lewi teaches to medical students and residents,
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he has long offered this advice: If you’re not finding the right
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answers, you’re not asking the right questions.
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Though he’d asked Price about his lifestyle and habits innumerable
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times, he decided to go back once again, and this time to make his
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questions as specific as possible.
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**Related: **[Top Cancer Doc Gives 5 Lifestyle Strategies to Avoid
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Cancer](http://www.menshealth.com/health/stay-cancer-free)
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“I said, ‘Let’s go over your diet, meal by meal, and you tell me every
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single thing you eat and drink.’ He said, ‘Sure, Dr. Lewi. I get up and
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usually have some cereal.’ I said, ‘Do you put anything on it?’ He said
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‘[Soy
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milk](article.do?category=other.diseases.ailments&channel=health&conitem=43f999edbbbd201099edbbbd2010cfe793cd____).’”
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Price explained that he’d developed [lactose
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intolerance](http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/you-might-be-lactose-intolerant)
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in recent years and had switched to [soy
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milk](article.do?category=other.diseases.ailments&channel=health&conitem=43f999edbbbd201099edbbbd2010cfe793cd____)
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exclusively. It had, in fact, become one of his favorite drinks, a great
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thirst quencher in the Texas heat.
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Dr. Lewi suddenly felt his excitement building. He asked Price how much
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soy milk, on average, he drank each day.
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“He told me, ‘Probably about 3 quarts,’” recalls Dr. Lewi about the
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moment that changed everything.
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Over the past decade,
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[soy](article.do?category=other.diseases.ailments&channel=health&conitem=43f999edbbbd201099edbbbd2010cfe793cd____)
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foods and good health have become inextricably linked in the national
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consciousness.
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According to annual U.S. consumer attitude surveys by the United Soybean
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Board, 85 percent of those polled in 2008 rated soy products as
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“healthy,” a significant increase from the 59 percent who in 1997
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thought this was the case. Many men, to be sure, are hard pressed to
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explain why soy is supposed to be so healthy, but they take it on faith
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that they should embrace the bean.
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“It’s something you need to train yourself to like, you know, for the
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health benefits," my friend Larry, a distance runner, opined recently.
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“Tofu’s the modern equivalent of cod liver oil,” added another buddy,
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Bill. Three times a week, his wife stir-fries tofu with chard. “It’s
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this gunk she calls superfood. I call it soylent green.”
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He pauses a beat before adding, “I guess I’m grateful she gets me to eat
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it.”
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**Related: **[The Best Sources Of Protein For
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Men](http://www.menshealth.com/weight-loss/worlds-best-protein-sources)
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Long the foundation of a vegetarian diet, tofu provides protein with
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little of the saturated fat and none of the moral indigestion that comes
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with meat.
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Moreover, in the past decade, research has emerged suggesting that
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scarfing down soy may also play an active role in extending our lives.
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In 1999, [soy
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protein](article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=nutrition&category=diet.strategies&conitem=4e1a99edbbbd201099edbbbd2010cfe793cd____)
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earned a highly coveted FDA-allowed health claim: Diets that include 25
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grams—about a pound of tofu—a day may reduce the risk of heart disease.
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**Related: **[30 Easy Ways to Save Your
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Heart](http://www.menshealth.com/health/heart-saving-tips)
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Add to this the number of studies showing that soy protein might also
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help protect against prostate cancer, and suddenly the stuff starts
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looking like powerful medicine for men.
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Of course, most medicines have side effects.
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And when you consume soy protein, you’re actually courting the Mr. Hyde
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side of two natural drugs: genistein and daidzein. Both act so similarly
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to estrogen that they’re known as phytoestrogens (plant-produced
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estrogens).
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Soybeans couldn’t care less about human sex characteristics—genistein
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and daidzein may have evolved to act as chemical defenses against fungi
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and grazing animals. (They aren't very effective deterrents, apparently,
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since soy meal is widely used to feed livestock.)
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But when humans consume these compounds in high enough quantities, they
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may experience gender-bending nightmares like James Price’s.
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**Related: **[How to Banish Your Man
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Boobs](http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/banish-your-man-boobs-0)
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What’s more, studies of these phytoestrogens in leading peer-reviewed
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medical journals suggest that even lower doses—such as the amount in the
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25-gram [soy
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protein](article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=nutrition&category=diet.strategies&conitem=4e1a99edbbbd201099edbbbd2010cfe793cd____)
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target cited by the FDA—have the potential to wreak hormonal havoc.
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Here are a few of the recent findings across the life stages of men.
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**Babies: Weaned On the Bean**
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A whopping 35 percent of bottle-fed babies in the United States receive
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at least some of their protein from soy.
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The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is taking steps to change this:
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It recommends that all infants who cannot be breastfed be given
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cow’s-milk formulas as the first preferred alternative. Healthy
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full-term infants should be given soy formula only when medically
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necessary, the AAP’s 2008 report states.
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**Relate: **[5 Parenting Hacks You Won’t Find In Baby
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Books](http://www.menshealth.com/guy-wisdom/easy-parenting-hacks)
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Babies with an extreme form of lactose intolerance fall into this
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category, but many others who suffer from colic and excessive crying are
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switched to soy formula despite a lack of proven benefits.
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Paul Cooke, Ph.D., a reproductive biologist at the University of
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Illinois, has studied mice raised on enough genistein to make their
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blood levels comparable to those of human infants fed soy formula.
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Among other worrisome findings, he discovered significant shrinkage of
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the thymus gland, a key part of the immune system. “The thymus,” says
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Cooke, “is like a finishing school for white blood cells—it’s where they
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go to mature.”
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Whether the same effect occurs in human infants is difficult to say, but
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a 2001 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association surveyed
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over 800 adults, ages 20 to 34, who were fed either soy-based or
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cow’s-milk formulas during their infancy.
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One of the few differences to emerge was that the group raised on soy
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formula regularly used more asthma and allergy medications in adulthood.
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Was this just a quirk of the sampling—or could it represent a subtle
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impairment of immune function?
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“I don’t know the answer,” says Cooke. “But the point is I don’t think
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anyone knows. There are 20 million people in the United States alone who
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have consumed soy formula as infants. When people ask me about doing
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experiments, I tell them we already are—with a large chunk of the
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country’s population.”
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For now, at least, the United States is gambling that widespread use of
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soy formula won’t lead to long-term consequences.
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In 2005, Israel’s health ministry recommended that soy products be
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limited in young children and, if possible, avoided altogether in
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infants. In issuing such a caution, Israel joined France, New Zealand,
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and Australia in officially embracing a better-safe-than-sorry approach
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for the next generation.
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**Teens to 20s: Faux Muscle Fuel**
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Most weightlifters, whether they’re dedicated competitors or occasional
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gym rats, understand the importance of protein in muscle building and
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repair. And research has shown that the timing of when you swallow that
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protein is just as critical—a fact that’s created a market for
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easy-to-consume protein supplements.
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**Related: **[Workout Nutrition: What and When to Eat to Build
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Muscle](http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/workout-nutrition-for-muscle-building)
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“It’s kind of hard to throw a steak down right before or after a
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strength workout,” says William Kraemer, Ph.D., a professor of
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kinesiology and a preeminent researcher of strength training and human
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performance at the University of Connecticut.
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Protein supplements allow an athlete to dump a scoop of powder in with
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some juice and chug what he needs, when he needs it.
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Giant canisters of the stuff line the shelves at GNC and similar
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health-food stores nationwide, each brand touting its unique
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muscle-building properties. The most common sources of protein used in
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them are soy, whey, and casein.
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But the latter two, which come from animal sources, are more expensive
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to produce than soy. The question currently being debated by strength
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trainers and researchers is this: Does soy’s relative affordability come
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at a cost to muscle gains?
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**Related: **[The Best Protein Powder For
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Men](http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/best-whey-powder)
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In a 2005 study in the Journal of Nutrition, researchers comparing soy
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to casein concluded that “the biological value of soy protein must be
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considered inferior to that of casein protein in humans.”
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Among other disadvantages, the researchers found, a significantly larger
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portion of soy is degraded to the waste product urea. Moreover, it
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contributes to less protein synthesis in the body.
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"A protein like whey has much more robust biological effects than soy,”
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acknowledges Kraemer.
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In terms of strength gains, however, he says more research is needed
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before he can provide definitive guidelines.
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“But my personal opinion is that soy protein is cheaper and whey protein
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is higher quality,” he says. “There are also concerns that soy might
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decrease a man’s testosterone production and increase his estradiol
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production, which we tend to associate with female hormone production.”
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**Related: **[Is Testosterone Therapy
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Safe?](http://www.menshealth.com/health/low-testosterone-treatment)
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After retiring from military service, James Price and his wife, Donna,
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moved to a small farm in Texas.
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He had a commercial pilot’s license and split his time between flying
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and working the land. His passion was raising and training quarter
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horses that he broke himself. Price lived the kind of cowboy lifestyle
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that few of his friends, even those decades younger, had the stamina to
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sustain.
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Donna cooked well-balanced meals, nothing fancy, just standard American
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fare. It was a good life.
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Then Donna developed glioblastoma multi-forme, a lethal type of brain
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cancer. When she died, Price, then 55, was left to cope not only with
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his grief but a radical change in his daily routine. Not surprisingly,
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the diet of the new widower took a hit.
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“All of a sudden,” he says, “I was living on not-so-healthy meals I’d
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make for myself.”
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**Related: **[5 Healthy Eating Hacks For Guys Who Hate to
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Cook](http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/easy-ways-eat-healthy)
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He saw a product advertised on TV called Ensure; it was supposed to
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provide adults all the vitamins and minerals and other vital nutrients
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necessary for health. He also started drinking milk, a favorite from his
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childhood that he figured would supply protein and other nutrients.
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Unfortunately, Price soon discovered he was lactose intolerant.
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“I switched to soy milk because it’s lactose-free,” he says, “and I had
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heard that soy milk is supposed to be good for you.”
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He tried it and liked it. Soon soy milk became a regular item on his
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shopping list, something he bought on autopilot.
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In the wake of Donna’s death, Price’s body as well as his emotions began
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to change, often in ways that were hard to separate from normal grief.
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Mood swings and a decrease in libido are not unusual companions to
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bereavement. But Price had a nagging sense that something was off.
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“I was becoming much more sentimental,” he recalls, describing his
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emotions as almost feminine. “I’d break out and cry at a sad movie, that
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kind of thing. It just wasn’t like me.”
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When Price began dating again, it was as if the sexual aspect had
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evaporated. “I enjoyed the company of women,” he says, “but it was just
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like they were my friends. Even if I had wanted to do anything physical,
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I couldn’t have.”
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**Related: **[5 Easy Ways to Increase Your
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Manpower](http://www.menshealth.com/health/5-easy-ways-increase-your-manpower)
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The gynecomastia that eventually developed became deeply humiliating for
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Price. He stopped wearing T-shirts even on the hottest days, fearing his
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friends and neighbors might see the telltale bumps beneath the fabric.
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His breasts by this point resembled the buds of a pubescent girl.
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Never once in the subsequent yearlong ordeal of medical testing did it
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cross his mind that soy milk might be the cause.
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“I had no idea,” he says. “I never gave it a second thought.”
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The day Dr. Lewi asked him to stop drinking the stuff, he immediately
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complied. He also began checking the ingredient labels on all other
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items he regularly consumed. If Dr. Lewi was right, going cold turkey on
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soy just might begin to reverse the symptoms.
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Over the next several months, blood tests revealed Price’s estrogen
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levels were, indeed, dropping steadily back toward normal.
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Even better, the extreme nipple tenderness began abating. Eventually,
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his breasts stopped hurting completely and he gradually began feeling a
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little more like his old self.
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Dr. Lewi, who had searched the medical literature extensively when
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trying to solve Price’s case, had come across no papers linking soy to
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gynecomastia.
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Realizing his obligation to warn other doctors about the possibility, he
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told Price he wanted to follow him for several more months and
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eventually write up his case for a medical journal.
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Price readily agreed, grateful for the chance to spare others from his
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ordeal.
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**20s to 40s: Privates in Peril**
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In a Harvard study published last year in the journal Human
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Reproduction, Jorge E. Chavarro, M.D., Sc.D., and his colleagues found a
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strong association between men’s consumption of soy foods and decreased
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sperm counts.
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**Related: **[4 Ways to Boost Your
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Fertility](http://www.menshealth.com/sex-women/fertility-cheat-sheet)
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Ninety-nine men reported their intake of 15 different soy-based foods,
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then underwent semen analysis. Those in the highest category of daily
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soy intake averaged 32 percent fewer sperm per milliliter of ejaculate
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than those who went sans soy.
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Dr. Chavarro cautions that this doesn’t prove cause and effect, and that
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it’s too early to counsel men to avoid soy foods in the hope of boosting
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fertility.
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“But clearly, this story is just starting,” he says. “More studies need
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to be conducted.”
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If shooting blanks is worrisome, how about being unable to shoot at all?
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Two other recently published papers reveal that at least one soy
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component clearly impairs erectile function in animals—and may do so in
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men as well.
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The studies, published in the Journal of Andrology and Urology
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respectively, looked at the effect of daidzein on the sexual function of
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male rats.
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Moderate doses of the phyto-estrogen administered either in youth or
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adulthood significantly affected the quality of their erections. Among
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other changes, the daidzein-exposed males produced less testosterone,
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had softer erections, and experienced biochemical changes to their
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penile tissues that left these tissues less elastic and less capable of
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complete blood engorgement.
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**Related: **[10 Myths About Erectile
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Dysfunction](http://www.menshealth.com/health/erectile-dysfunction-myths)
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While acknowledging that rat results do not always directly translate to
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humans, the authors of the first study suggest that this time there’s
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reason to believe they will.
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They cite, among other things, a 10 percent higher incidence of erectile
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dysfunction in Chinese men known to consume high amounts of soy compared
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with Americans who avoid it.
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The authors of the Urology study sound a similar warning. They argue
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that it’s reasonable to believe that men who consume lots of daidzein
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could experience tissue changes similar to those seen in another mammal.
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Yufeng Huang, M.D., a coauthor on both papers, says that the “moderate”
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dose used in the animal studies leads to approximately the same blood
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level of daidzein in men who eat soy every day, a common practice in
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Asia. He believes soy represents a novel and previously overlooked risk
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factor for ED.
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“We are now recommending that soy be avoided by patients with erectile
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dysfunction,” Dr. Huang says. And because erectile dysfunction increases
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with age, he also suggests that men ages 40 and above limit their soy
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intake.
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**Related: **[Do You Need Erectile Dysfunction
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Drugs?](http://www.menshealth.com/health/erectile-dysfunction-drugs)
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**50s and Beyond: Brain Drain**
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Last summer, Eef Hogervorst, Ph.D., of England’s Loughborough
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University, and other researchers published a study on soy products and
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dementia risk.
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The researchers focused their attention on older Indonesians, members of
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a culture in which tofu has long been a dietary staple. Hogervorst says
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her team began the study confident of finding a benefit from tofu’s
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phytoestrogens.
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“Almost everything we’d learned from animal and cell-culture work
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indicated that estrogenlike compounds protect the brain,” she says.
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In older men and older women alike, however, they found exactly the
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opposite indication: Participants over age 68 who were regularly eating
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the most tofu had double the risk of dementia and memory impairment as
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||
those consuming a more moderate amount.
|
||
|
||
“We were very surprised by this at the time,” says Hogervorst, “but a
|
||
new consensus is starting to form now. Hormones and hormonelike products
|
||
are not very good for people over 65.”
|
||
|
||
**Related: **[8 Daily Habits That Will Keep Your Brain Young and
|
||
Sharp](http://www.menshealth.com/health/keep-your-brain-sharp)
|
||
|
||
In terms of soy itself, Hogervorst suspects its reputation is changing.
|
||
|
||
“For a long time now,” she says, “people have been finding only good
|
||
things about phytoestrogens. Gradually, as some contrasting information
|
||
accumulates, the paradigm changes 180 degrees and you see people arguing
|
||
that phytoestrogens are all bad. The truth probably lies somewhere in
|
||
the middle.”
|
||
|
||
Dr. Lewi's case report on James Price's condition was published in the
|
||
May/June 2008 edition of Endocrine Practice, a journal read by many of
|
||
the nation’s in-the-trenches endocrinologists. Thanks to this, doctors
|
||
now have a newly documented agent to consider when evaluating
|
||
gynecomastia.
|
||
|
||
For his part, Dr. Lewi believes that soy products in moderation can
|
||
still be a healthy part of a man’s diet.
|
||
|
||
“The problem,” he says, “is when a thing like soy is touted as this
|
||
wonderful panacea for health, and people end up going overboard on it.”
|
||
|
||
A final twist in the Price case, however, shows how difficult it can be
|
||
to avoid soy. During the follow-up blood testing Price agreed to
|
||
undergo, his estrogen levels continued to drop, in a virtually linear
|
||
fashion, back toward normal.
|
||
|
||
Then, several months later, and seemingly for no reason, the positive
|
||
trend reversed. As soon as he saw that Price’s estrogen was once again
|
||
climbing, Dr. Lewi called his patient.
|
||
|
||
Before Dr. Lewi could even announce the results, Price said, “I already
|
||
know what you’re going to tell me, Dr. Lewi. You’re going to say my
|
||
estrogen level is coming up."
|
||
|
||
Dumbfounded, Dr. Lewi asked Price how he knew that without seeing the
|
||
test results.
|
||
|
||
Price explained that after switching from soy milk to lactose-free milk,
|
||
he was in the grocery store one day and bought some more Ensure. Though
|
||
he’d followed Dr. Lewi’s advice and checked the labels on virtually
|
||
every product he purchased, he’d neglected to check Ensure.
|
||
|
||
“It’s advertised as having vitamins and minerals and all the stuff you
|
||
need to stay healthy,” he says.
|
||
|
||
**Related: **[The Best Multivitamins For
|
||
Men](http://www.menshealth.com/health/best-multivitamins-men)
|
||
|
||
Only after his breasts started hurting and growing again did it occur to
|
||
Price that Ensure might also contain the last thing his body needed. He
|
||
checked the label: Ensure contained soy protein. He told Dr. Lewi that
|
||
he threw out the rest and was no longer drinking it.
|
||
|
||
Subsequent blood tests showed that this was enough to send Price’s
|
||
estrogen back in the healthy direction.
|
||
|
||
Several months later, his estrogen levels—once higher than those of most
|
||
women—were in the low-to-normal range for healthy men. They’ve remained
|
||
in that range ever since, but the physical changes to his penis, his
|
||
loss of sexual desire, and his heightened emotions have persisted.
|
||
|
||
**Related: **[The Male Libido
|
||
Crisis](http://www.menshealth.com/sex-women/male-libido-crisis)
|
||
|
||
And while all pain associated with his breasts has disappeared, the
|
||
tissue unfortunately remains swollen, a consequence of fibrotic tissue
|
||
changes that take place with long-term gynecomastia.
|
||
|
||
Although Price remains self-conscious about it, he’s reluctant to try
|
||
the only cure—cosmetic surgical reduction. There are too many risks, he
|
||
says—bleeding, infection, problems with anesthesia—to justify going
|
||
under the knife at this point in his life.
|
||
|
||
As for other men who might one day develop a similar problem, Price’s
|
||
advice is unequivocal: Go to your doctor at the first sign of pain or
|
||
swelling. Symptoms caught and treated early are often reversible.
|
||
|
||
Price also acknowledges that his body may have an above-average
|
||
sensitivity to soy’s phytoestrogens.
|
||
|
||
Still, his experiences have taught him that the foods we eat are not
|
||
always what we think they are. Soy protein today is an ubiquitous,
|
||
profitable, and often buried ingredient in a bewildering number of
|
||
packaged foods. More than most people, Price was doing his best to avoid
|
||
it. But he was still tripped up.
|
||
|
||
“In today’s supermarkets,” he says, his voice weary, “you can’t hardly
|
||
get anything without at least some soy in it.”
|