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Soy Will Give Me Boobs

Do Soybeans have a feminist agenda?

 The title of this post is inspired by my brother-in-law, but the spirit behind the message is something that I have heard time and time again: Soy has estrogen and that makes it bad for you.

This myth stops NOW.

In reading an article from the Boston Globe about Impossible and Beyond Burgers, I found the sentence that perfectly sums up everything that we hear about soy: “Soy contains estrogen-like compounds called isoflavones that some findings say can promote the growth of some cancer cells, impair female fertility and mess with men’s hormones.” That this article snuck this in without any backup shows their bias, and I hate to show mine, but this is nonsense. So, let's break this down and look at the fun part, science! 
Yum! A bowl full of genistein and daidzein!
Estrogen-like Compounds
Soy contains phytoestrogens, genistein and daidzein, which act like estrogen, but very weak versions. What is interesting is that these phytoestrogens have both an estrogenic and anti-estrogenic affect on the body. Phytoestrogens can actually block estrogen from reaching breast cancer cells, creating a protective barrier and keeping the cancer from growing. Phytoestrogens also bind to the recently discovered beta estrogen receptor. Cool, huh? Like how the word "literally" can also be defined by it's opposite meaning (I literally get murderous when people say "literally" when they mean "figuratively").  

 Promote the Growth of Some Cancer Cells
Higher levels of estrogen have been linked to breast cancer. Soy has phytoestrogens, so eating a lot of it causes cancer. We just disproved this in the previous paragraph. But, studies on rodents exposed to high levels of isoflavones (phytoestrogens), have seen increased rates of breast cancer. The levels fed to the rats were higher than most people would reasonably consume. Similar studies conducted on humans found that the isoflavones actually reduced the risk of breast cancer due to the anti-estrogenic properties. Should someone eat 30 cups of soy in a day continuously, he or she may run into some challenges. But, as we found in the post about spinach, no one should eat that much of any one thing. 

 Impair Female Fertility
There was an interesting study done with women who were undergoing infertility treatments and the effect of BPA (bisphenol A, a chemical found in a many plastic items). BPA also has an estrogenic effect on the body and has been linked to reproductive issues. The study found that women who regularly consume soy weren't affected by the BPA and were more likely to conceive. Women who did not consume soy had lower chances of conception and live births, due to high levels of BPA. In this case, soy actually improves fertility.  
Male Scientist checks his masculinity,
it's very fragile.
Mess with Men's Hormones
It makes me laugh when I hear people say stuff like this (and why I chose the name for the post). It's easy enough to use logic to debunk this one. Soy is widely consumed in Asian countries. Asian countries are highly populated. If soy caused men's estrogen levels to increase and testosterone levels to decrease to the point where it made men infertile, wouldn't Asian countries be less populated? But, rest assured, there have been multiple studies that have found that consuming normal amounts of soy (i.e, less than 30 cups) will not affect men's testosterone levels.   

 TL:DR
Soy doesn't make men grow boobs. The phytoestrogens are too weak to have that kind of impact. Soy is generally good for you if you don't eat 30 cups daily. 
And there was much rejoicing.

 Check My Sources!*:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/food-dining/2019/10/23/here-what-really-impossible-burger/diO3mowweQyK1fHkdvj9eM/story.html
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/soy/
https://nutritionfacts.org/2019/11/21/how-phytoestrogens-can-have-anti-estrogenic-effects/
https://www.cancer.org/latest-news/soy-and-cancer-risk-our-experts-advice.html
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/soy-rich-diet-may-offset-bpas-effects-on-fertility/
https://www.drfuhrman.com/elearning/eat-to-live-blog/137/dont-fall-for-the-myths-about-soy
*These articles are newer with the most up to date science. There were some older articles that I found that I chose not to use as the science is no longer valid. 

 Photo Credits:
https://www.pexels.com/@pixabay
https://www.pexels.com/@buenosia-carol-116286
https://www.pexels.com/@dana-tentis-118658
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