The great divide between veggie/tofu-eating-women, and haunch-of-beef-eating-men cliches just got wider. Why? In the news is a study claiming that men can get low sperm counts from soy products (including tofu) – due to isoflavones. While this is not a great study, nor a large number of people, the issue has more credence than vegetarians might like because the isoflavones in soy products have been known for a long, long time to mimic estrogen. Which means there is biologic mechanism to support (and bolster) the study’s results. Bummer, dude.
So should you avoid soy products? If you’re a guy and you and your partner are having a bit of trouble conceiving, first get both of you checked. If you have a marginal sperm count, the answer is…maybe. This one study (done in patients at an infertility clinic) is a long ways from proof. But of all the things you can try (boxer shorts, possible surgery if you have a cystocoele), cutting out tofu/soy is pretty harmless. Just don’t go into a carnivorous cholesterol frenzy if you do…
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The study showed that sperm motility and sperm morphology were not affected so soy products would probably not reduce fertility in most men.
This is another study http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18314116
“Frequent intake of lipophilic foods like meat products or milk may negatively affect semen quality in humans”