Soy Products and Male infertility

[Anonymous]

Anyone hear of Soy products being a factor in male infertility?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone hear of Soy products being a factor in male infertility?

My husband recently read an British Study that stated that consuming Soy products resulted in low sperm count in mice.
http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Soy-again-linked-to-male-infertility-Mouse-study

Just curious on your thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Absolutely. Soy increases the amount of estrogen in the body, therefore, undermines the production of the sperm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely. Soy increases the amount of estrogen in the body, therefore, undermines the production of the sperm.

Thats so crazy! My husband and I recently became vegetarians in October and have turned to soy products...but now that we are having difficulty with conceiving and with low sperm numbers it has caused us to look at our diet. Looks like we are going to lay off of Soy. Yikes!

[Anonymous]

For what it's worth, my husband and I are both vegetarians and have been for about 15 years. We eat some soy, about 1-2 times/wk. My husband's SA showed a very high count and volume.

That said, a lot of research indicates that soy can cause fertility problems for men and women. Some say unfermented and processed soy is the true culprit while fermented soy is beneficial. Some say the health benefits of soy are overstated and inflated because of the influence of the soy industry. Others say that the dairy industry feels threatened by people turning to soy so they are pushing anti-soy propaganda.

In the end, it's not really clear. There are studies that say it's horrible for fertility and studies say it's helpful. The same exists for dairy, there are a lot of studies that make cow's milk sound like the scariest food on the planet.

If you do decide to go off soy, be sure to read all labels because there is a lot of processed soy in products where you wouldn't expect to find it. It's probably a good idea to avoid processed foods in general, but especially if you're trying to avoid something hidden in so many products. Most foods even the boxed kinds sold at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods are minimally processed and don't have a lot of hidden junk.

Lastly, soy products definitely help make the transition to being vegetarian, but there is a big protein world outside of soy and even dairy. I'm a big fan of nutritional yeast flakes, which have no taste but just a few tablespoons and you have almost 20g protein. I add them to dishes that aren't naturally high in protein like pasta sauce and soup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For what it's worth, my husband and I are both vegetarians and have been for about 15 years. We eat some soy, about 1-2 times/wk. My husband's SA showed a very high count and volume.

That said, a lot of research indicates that soy can cause fertility problems for men and women. Some say unfermented and processed soy is the true culprit while fermented soy is beneficial. Some say the health benefits of soy are overstated and inflated because of the influence of the soy industry. Others say that the dairy industry feels threatened by people turning to soy so they are pushing anti-soy propaganda.

In the end, it's not really clear. There are studies that say it's horrible for fertility and studies say it's helpful. The same exists for dairy, there are a lot of studies that make cow's milk sound like the scariest food on the planet.

If you do decide to go off soy, be sure to read all labels because there is a lot of processed soy in products where you wouldn't expect to find it. It's probably a good idea to avoid processed foods in general, but especially if you're trying to avoid something hidden in so many products. Most foods even the boxed kinds sold at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods are minimally processed and don't have a lot of hidden junk.

Lastly, soy products definitely help make the transition to being vegetarian, but there is a big protein world outside of soy and even dairy. I'm a big fan of nutritional yeast flakes, which have no taste but just a few tablespoons and you have almost 20g protein. I add them to dishes that aren't naturally high in protein like pasta sauce and soup.

OP here, thank you for that info...I have not heard of yeast flakes...where in the store (aisle) would you find those? Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Depending on where you live - it's a lot cheaper to get them in bulk. I get mine from the TPSS co-op (both locations have it). But I know it comes in a shaker can too. I think at Whole Foods you can find them with the spices and baking stuff. Yeast flakes are great, entirely tasteless and you can add them to anything to get extra protein. Be sure to keep it refrigerated so it will last longer.

For what it's worth, I asked at my appointment with our endocrinologist today and he said no way is it a problem. So who knows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depending on where you live - it's a lot cheaper to get them in bulk. I get mine from the TPSS co-op (both locations have it). But I know it comes in a shaker can too. I think at Whole Foods you can find them with the spices and baking stuff. Yeast flakes are great, entirely tasteless and you can add them to anything to get extra protein. Be sure to keep it refrigerated so it will last longer.

For what it's worth, I asked at my appointment with our endocrinologist today and he said no way is it a problem. So who knows.

op here, thanks! We're just looking for answers...trying to find what we can do to boos the numbers