Can eating soy lower a male humans sperm count?

Question

You might be surprised.

http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/04malehealth.htm

http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/04phytoestrogens.htm

http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/03soymyths.htm

collins---you didn't answer the question----you should post that as a question though.

juls--I don't think I'll take a fiction based TV show as fact.

3 comets----each link has many sources for it's information. It would be intelligent to follow something that is referenced with many sources than following you, who has NO sources.

3 comets----limited bandwidth...LOL....limited integrity you mean.....collins links do not refer to soy therefore they are irrelevant to the question. See how that works? I told her she should post it as a question in the forum. Did she? Not that I know of. I'm sorry if the truth makes you angry but that's your problem, not mine.

3 comets----"You might want to go away now, I hear Thor coming! I've heard that Mjolnir isn't very good for trolls. '-)"-------maybe you should get back to your Dungeons and Dragons game?

majnun----I always respect your answers but I'm always going to side with scientists and professors who have done research over someone just stating their opinion. No offense intended.

majnun----a quote from the 3rd link:

"Myth: Asians consume large amounts of soy foods.

Truth: Average consumption of soy foods in Japan and China is 10 grams (about 2 teaspoons) per day. Asians consume soy foods in small amounts as a condiment, and not as a replacement for animal foods."

krister----here are more links, all with their references:

http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/soy_controversy.html

http://www.earthsave.ca/articles/health/soy.html

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/soy.htm

http://www.thehealthyplanet.com/june05_soy.htm

This statement is important:

"Soy has been eaten for thousands of years in Asia - so how can it be unhealthy? No one seems to agree on exactly how much soy was consumed historically. Some say it was just a condiment, others claim that some 'healthy' people groups - such as the Okinawan centenarians consumed significant amounts of soy. HOWEVER the fermented products consumed in Asia (such as miso and tofu) are a very different end-product compared with today's soy-based foods (that are mostly made from soy isolates)."

http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2006/07/30/soy_the_great_debate.php

While there are indeed health beneifts from eating soy based products, there are definitely drawbacks and side effects as well.

Those previous links came from a Yahoo search of "soy usage in Asia" so there was no bias.

It would appear that "anti-soy" sites and general dietary sites address both the health benefits and dangers of soy, whereas the pro-soy sites address the benefits while completely ignoring the dangers.

As the person authoring the last link I provided says:

"I get suspicious when any large food company promotes a line of food as a health product. Because, in the end, it's about their bottom line - and exploiting the health-conscious demographic."

The dangers are as real as the benefits and every claim is accredited to scientists and doctors and nutritionists.

Ask yourself, who gains more from hiding the dangers of soy than those who sell it's products? Will you ignore the message because I'm the messenger? That would be unwise.

Answer 1

Soy foods were first used in China thousands of years ago.

China is one of the most populated countries in the world.

Seems very unlikely.

Answer 2

I wish.

Unfortunately, it's been far too easy for my wife to get pregnant when she wants to.

I'm afraid that such a claim isn't based on factual information.

Not that I don't want kids, but I tried to see how long I could avoid it and she won that battle pretty easily.

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Dude, come on. Why do you keep quoting anti-soy websites?
It's like quoting PeTA - a bit biased.

Asian people eat tofu all of the time, not as a replacement for meat, but right along side meat, even in the same dishes.

Trying to say that East Asians only consume soy daily in the form of soy sauce or fermented condiments kind of ruins your argument. Is this a game? Are you ruining your argument intentionally?

Answer 3

This will sound silly...but I just watched a Law & Order C.I. episode the other day where this was a big part of their case (if you want to know...ask me and I'll tell you). But according to the episode (and they claim to get their info from real-life) they said that this claim was, in fact, a myth.

But who knows? Studies change all the time!

Answer 4

I fully agree with Krister! I've been eating large quantities of soy since the mid-'70s when I first learned about soyfoods. It would have been REALLY nice if it had cut my sperm count! And my ex-wives and "other female companions" would certainly agree that my soy based diet didn't hurt my sex drive or performance in any form or fashion!

Why don't you go look at some websites that aren't funded my WAPF and mercola? You know mercola don't you? The guy that was FORCED to splatter legal disclaimers all over his website to avoid prosecution.

Now be a good troll and go play under a bridge downstream from a collapsing dam.

Edit:

Why should I waste my limited bandwidth providing you with more links when you totally ignored the links already provided by collins17 and in typical unintelligent troll fashion chose to instead complain that she didn't put a question in her ANSWER!

Looking at your links, collins17s links and comparing these links to the answers of Krister, majnun99 and myself let's look at the data and compare results. Soy eating Chinese, Krister and myself all have overpopulation problems. Beef eating amerika is losing population if the immigrant population is removed from census data. Don't forget that the beef and dairy industry has been losing marketshare to the soy based products we vegetarians eat and feed to our growing number of children. Notice a trend?

You might want to go away now, I hear Thor coming! I've heard that Mjolnir isn't very good for trolls. '-)

Answer 5

Check this out
http://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/Pregnancy/tb/5345

http://www.britishmeat.com/american-meat/sperm-count.html

http://vegblog.veggiedude.com/index.php?/archives/1416-Low-Sperm-count-direct-link-to-Beef.html

http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/society/health/low%20sperm%20count%20link%20to%20beefeating/348387