Soy, Estrogen, and Men??

I recently heard that a diet rich in soy may be unhealthy for men as it increases estrogen production.  Anyone know specifics about this? What are the risks/benefits for men?  Thanks.

I just had to keep reading on this (sigh, it just gets worse)

"There is also evidence that the soy isoflavones genstein and daidzein are genotoxic to human sperm.  It is quite possible, therefore, that phytoestrogens, may contribute to the worldwide decrease in male fertility. Congenital abnormalities of the male genital tract are also increasing, and once again soy phytoestrogens may be implicated, according to a study that found a higher incidence of birth defects in male offspring of vegetarian, soy-consuming mothers" (sharpe & Skakkebaek, 1993).

"In another UK feeding study involving premenopausal women, 60g of soy protein per day (containing 45 mg total isoflavones) for 30 days resulted in significant biological effects. These effects were a reduction in mean mid-cycle levels of LH and FSH to 33% and 53% respectively of the levels observed when the women were fed control diets that did not contain soy. In this study all of the women still ovulated but the effects of the isoflavones continued for three months after the diet ceased (Cassidy et al, 1994).

Refs:

Sharpe & Skakkebaek (1993). Are oestrogens involved in falling sperm counts and disorders of the male reproductive tract? Lancet, 341, 1392-5

Cassidy A, Bingham S, Setchell KD.  (1994). Biological effects of a diet of soy protein rich in isoflavones on the menstrual cycle of premenopausal women. Am J Clin Nutrition,Vol 60(3), 333-40

Thank you Shazm64.  I admire your perseverance and presentation of information.  It's precisely the type of information I was seeking.  

Nice, Shaz.  I'm glad someone out there had the time that I didn't to find the research.

In general, it's really encouraging to see "ordinary people" so interested in finding the truth.  The popular opinion of the medical establishment and the diet industry would have you thinking that anything you can burn for calories and "get yer protein from" is a suitable food, and nobody cares to dig much deeper.  Thanks for proving otherwise!

just happened to find this thread... thanks everyone, for putting up soy research, i always love to read new articles on it, and love not feeling alone in my "beliefs" on the subject!

Having been allergic to milk since I was 12, I've been consuming soy for years. Of course this doesn't count the soy additives in most consumer foods, or the even more frightening fact that most infant formula is soy-based (want to feed your baby liquid birth control, anyone?). I wonder how to stop eating soy, though... and I'll admit I do enjoy my soymilk. My boyfriend has stopped drinking cow milk since we moved in together and he drinks at least 5X as much of it as I do. Scary to think it might be even worse for him. Perhaps I should tell him to go back to cow milk?

there are other milks you can try that are much healthier and safer. rice milk is readily available, should be anywhere soy milk is sold, it's what i use. i know they sell other kinds of milk, but i've never really looked. almond milk is one. really, any nut can be used for milk. and you can always make it yourself, just google some recipes, it all looks easy.

Yes, there are other "alternative" milks you could try, such as hazelnut, almond, and rice milks. 

As far as Asians eating soy for years: that may be true to some extent, but they don't live on it like we do (and never have).  To them, it's more like an occasional treat-like some people who might only eat candies once a week or whatever.

We put soy in just about everything, our breads, even our tuna.  Alot of our snack foods and salad dressings have gobs of soy in them.  It's almost impossible to find anything in America that doesn't have soy in it.  But they don't do that in Asian countries.  In fact, they don't even claim soy as a "health food."  The only reason Asians are generally healthier than Americans is because their overall diet is better than ours--lots of fresh veggies, herbs, rice, etc., and they eat way less soy than we do!  And that's the truth!

All very interesting.  I've been drinking organic soy milk for probably a year or more now every morning with my oatmeal.  I'll let you ladies know when I start growing breasts...as of now, my pecs are still pretty rock hard.  I do have less chest hair now then I did then...

Seriously, I was wondering about the lowered sperm count issue myself (being a man who'd like kids), but figure this could also be a great form of birth control...

who knows, but I'll probably stop drinking soy when I get married.

"Live well, laugh long"

Eeeep! I drink soy milk and eat tofu all the time....all this is worrying my poor little hypochondriac mind!!!  I mean, I didn't think drinking soy milk could possibly give me breast cancer...geesh!

I also eat soy at least once a day, but I won't stop. I'm stubborn, a pain in the ass, and I don't want to go back to eating meat all the time. People will read these studies on tofu and run screaming back to their feedlot beef - which is worse? Heck, I already think there are too many people - a spermicide contained in the Tofu Lo Mein sounds like a gift from god! Men, eat up! The earth cannot support more and more meat eaters - is there a good solution for everyone in regards to protein consumption?

This thread is a year closed, but it came up as one of the first search results on google.  There was a comment made by venix that genistein found in soy "increases cell turnover rate in bones" which "may accelerate the rate at which bones age" and then cited a study as reference.

But the study actually found the near opposite.  This is a direct quote:

"Our ... trial confirmed the positive effects of genistein treatment on bone loss induced by estrogen deficiency. A 1-yr genistein administration was associated with a normalization of elevated bone turnover: the phytoestrogen reduced bone resorption markers and enhanced bone neoformation parameters."

In other words, genistein reduced the bone turnover rate in this population.