Is Soy Bad for Men? It sure is!

This is not a random interesting topic I have decided to write about — I’ve had the privilege (sarcasm!) to experience the dangers of soy myself.

What Makes Soy Bad for Men?

Soy is a great little bean and has become very popular because of its health benefits. Overall, soy is a great addition to virtually any diet. However, the old adage “everything in moderation” cannot be more true for soy.

Soy, in small to medium doses, has been linked to improved cardiovascular health and weight loss, while providing healthy dietary fibre and protein (Dieticians of Canada) but large doses of soy products are another story.

Soy contains isoflavones, which are estrogen-like compounds derived from plants that, in large amounts, can increase estrogen in both men and women. It takes a fair bit of soy to produce noticeable effects, however it can be easy to reach those limits if you are unaware of the danger. Here’s where my person experience comes in.

See: Does Soy Milk Lower Testosterone?

You see, I decided about 4 months ago to make some major changes to my diet. I recently discovered I am lactose intolerant, so cow milk had to go. I easily replaced it with soy milk and loved it! I started drinking more than 2 cups of soy milk each day (which is already a moderate-high about of soy).

I then decided to fully jump on the soy wagon by purchasing soy protein powder and taking it several times a week before workouts. Protein powder is very concentrated, so my soy intake started going through the roof. It didn’t take long before I started noticing problems with my energy levels, alertness and muscle loss — aspects linked to an imbalance between testosterone and estrogen.

I had test after test performed but the test that finally shed light on my situation was a testosterone test, showing that my levels were below normal (not alarmingly low, but low). Thankfully, it seems like I caught the problem before it became pronounced — unlike this poor man.

If left unchecked, high soy intake can lead men to have fertility problems or even grow breasts!

Needless to say, I have not touched a single soy product since. As much as I like a good pair of breasts, I just don’t think they would suit me.
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Vegetarians, Get Excited: Fake Chicken That Tastes Like Real Chicken

Though I am not a proponent of vegetarianism, I find technological advances of any kind to be very interesting. The latest advancement in food tech brings us a mixture of soy, pea and protein isolates (among other ingredients) that tastes like Chicken.

What makes the product particularly amazing, however, is not that it tastes like chicken, rather that it feels like chicken. 

Meat substitutes have long suffered from a lack of appetizing texture. Substitutes made out of tofu, for example, come nowhere close to the mouth-feel of a good ol’ fashioned piece of meat. Beyond Meat is now making the texture problem a thing of the past.

Though I cannot personally vouch for the fake meat, according to Alton Brown, a chef and host on the Food Network, the new product is pretty impressive. Alton Brown has this to say about it:

I tear it and watch the break, the way the material separates. It’s more like meat than anything I’ve ever seen that wasn’t meat. Looking closely I can see a repeating pattern, like a subtle honeycomb, that reminds me a bit of tripe. I close my eyes and smell, but since the strip hasn’t received any flavoring at this point, I detect only subtle hints of soy.

I take a bite. While the unflavored product tastes distinctly vegetal and still has a bit of what I’d call tofu-bounce, a hint of the spongy, the tear is … meaty.

Read his full experience here

The new food product comes to us from Beyond Meat, based out of Missouri, where they utilize specialized machinery to fold vegetarian ingredients in a unique way to produce the meat-like texture and given the rise in vegetarianism, particularly in California, the product will be a sure-hit (assuming they can keep the price within reason, though vegetarians are probably used to paying a premium for good meat substitutes).

A call out to meat-eaters and vegetarians: what do you think about this new fake chicken?