Soy. The boogeyman of masculine men everywhere. Indeed, the term “soy” (and derivatives such as “soy boy”) itself has become a slang term encapsulating all that we hate about the state of modern manhood: weakness, effeminancy, soft facial features, and more.
But is that the case? We all know that soy is the only complete vegetable protein—which is to say it’s the only vegetable protein that has all of the essential amino acids—but is it really so bad for people in general and men in particular?
The short answer is: for “people” as a vague concept, no. It’ll keep you alive and functioning. But for MEN, specifically, seeking to be the best possible men they can be, the answer is a resounding yes.
What It Does, and Why It’s So Common
As I said above, soy will keep you alive—it is a complete protein, which means it will indeed give you enough protein to trudge through your daily life. That much, even I will not dispute.
As many have pointed out, soy is indeed an extremely common foodstuff and food additive, not just in its native East Asia but increasingly in the other four cardinal directions of the compass rose as well. Note that the three largest producers of soy beans, which make up a majority (80+%) of the world’s crop are all in the Western Hemisphere: the USA, Brazil, and Argentina.
And indeed, when I say it’s extremely common, I mean it with no hyperbole. In addition to just being eaten in its natural state, soybeans are processed into many foodstuffs such as the famous tofu and tempeh and vegetable oil. If that weren’t enough, textured vegetable protein, or TVP, is a soy product that is used as a filler/substitute in many meat/dairy substitutes and as an enhancer.
Why is it so common? While some conspiracy theorists would undoubtedly posit that this is all some fiendish Illuminati/Judeo-Satanist plot to emasculate men around the world, I don’t think that’s the case. Frankly, I’ve always believed in Hanlon’s Razor, the idea that you can never attribute to malice what can be attributed to stupidity—and I would paraphrase “laziness” for stupidity.
The simple reason for the preponderance of soy in the modern diet is simply that it is cheap, and corporations are primarily—and entirely— businesses, seeking to maximize their profits and minimize their expenditures. Thus, a cheap source of protein like soy is common, nevermind the side effects. And what are those side effects that deliberately harm men?
1. Hormonal Distress
Soy products are confirmed to inherently contain phytoestrogens, which can have estrogenizing effects on the human body. Indeed, they have been linked to positive effects for women, including the reduction of risks of certain types of cancer—and this happens to be the same effect that can occur with certain types of estrogen supplementation.
Since this is the case, we can also discuss the inverse (i.e. the same estrogenizing effects that are good for women will of course be bad for men). Of course, the issue is a matter of debate, but more than one study has reported negative hormonal effects of soy in men.
Testosterone
2. Decreased Male Fertility
Related to the above, a soy-heavy diet has also been linked to fertility dysfunction in men: lowered sperm counts and decreased semen quality. If you read this website, you’ve probably picked up somewhere or other that testosterone levels in the Western world are lower than they were in previous generations, and not only that, several studies have confirmed that testosterone and sperm counts are being lowered THROUGHOUT all Western countries.
Again, it’s not likely that this is a deliberate conspiracy, so much as an unfortunate side effect of cheapness and decreased quality of life.
3. Flatulence
And now going in a completely low brow direction, eating an excess of soy products has been linked to gastrointestinal distress. And needless to say, being associated with flatulence stink won’t do much for anything that you’re attempting to do, whether it be physical fitness, seduction, or business.
While one may not believe in the phenotypic changes associated with the stereotypically weak, spindly, soy eating male, the three reasons cited above are enough for any man to avoid this food.
What To Do
Seeing as soy isn’t required in the diet, avoiding it shouldn’t be so difficult. Just read all food product labels, avoid anything with soy, and avoid eating it directly. Replace it with animal proteins instead.
Make these simple changes, and see health and masculinity improve.
Read More: 5 Easy Ways To Boost Your Testosterone
The issue with soy is that it’s such a robust filler that they put it in foods that you would never think has soy. You really have to examine the ingredient label. For example, I sometimes buy Chinese dumplings from my supermarket and only the other week did I notice that soy is an ingredient. If I didn’t catch it, I would have grown man boobs possibly.
There’s hydrolyzed soy protein often used as a flavoring ingredient, for that ‘umani’ taste. People object to this since it’s very similar to MSG.
Personally I don’t like food made in a chem lab.
I read somewhere that soy protein was merely an industrial byproduct in the twenties. They originally used it as paint thickener before someone got the bright idea of feeding it to humans.
Its far more commonly used as an animal feed. Protein sources are the most costly ingredient in animal feed and soy provides the bulk of the protein. I just wonder with cattle, pigs and chickens eating so much soy do the oestrogens contaminate the meat?
Apparently it does contaminate the meat, but not to the same degree as soy itself. A semi-sourced article I read claimed that soy contains something like 10,000x more estrogenic compounds than the same quantity of beef.
My guess would be that you’re more or less fine eating most meats. Rumor has it that turmeric, flavonoids (found in citrus fruits), fenugreek, and cruciferous vegetables help prevent estrogen from affecting the body, so if you’re concerned I suppose you could up your intake of those.
Reminds me of fluoride.
I wonder how long it’s going to take for dentists to claim soy prevents tooth decay and start pushing soy products on gullible customers.
Basically if the government tells you its good to eat, don’t eat it.
It’s true. Here’s some on that sourced from Mercola and more in a second part form one Jamie Lewis.
“According to Joseph Mercola, soy began in the US as a product that in 1913 was listed in the U.S. Department of Agriculture as an industrial product, rather than a food. (Mercola) Although the soybean was introduced in the US a couple centuries prior to that, it didn’t really carry much weight until is was picked up by none other than Henry Ford as a super-bean he primarily used to make plastics and textiles- Ford bragged that two bushels of soybeans went into each car he sold, and even wore a suit made of faux silk (made of soy) on a daily basis. This fiber never really caught on, having been beaten by DuPont’s nylon, but illustrates the fact that soy was initially considered to be primarily for industrial use. Ford’s experimentation with soy milk eventually led to Ralston-Purina’s widespread use of soy in animal feed, due in large part to the fact that soy is incredibly cheap to farm and process.”
http://chaosandpain.blogspot.com/2010/09/soy-is-devil-and-not-in-fun-way.html?zx=b801d63e1836056e
http://chaosandpain.blogspot.com/2010/09/soy-is-devil-and-not-in-fun-way-22-12.html
300 push up’s per day will solve that problem, soy or no soy.
The reason soybeans and grains are in everything is because it’s cheap and has a very long shelf life, when properly stored they can be kept almost indefinitely. There’s no hand labor involved (expensive) in growing or storing grain everything is mechanized from planting to harvest to storage. If you want something better for you then, you gotta pay for it.
or grow/raise it yourself.
I will. There is a mayonnaise at Walmart called Just Mayo with a brown label….no soy, but it DOES have canola oil which might be bad for you too. Shit!
I’ve been wondering about that stuff too for the last few years.
While I can’t argue that having a soy heavy diet can cause all three of these things, I would say that it’s far more reasonable to tell others not to have a diet high in soy, rather than saying to avoid soy all together. The issue with you concluding to avoid soy all together is that you only pull in evidence supporting your claims from studies that looked at people who have a high soy intake, but if you look at meta-analyses on the rest of the scientific literature on this subject you see that they do not support the claim that soy effects male reproductive hormones. Link to the meta-analysis: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19524224
Of course. All things in moderation
Soy trivia: Henry Ford experimented with soy plastic for car panels.
My take is soy fillers are bad news, a little tofu debatable, but fermented soy products are healthy. They say miso paste (which makes an easy, delicious soup) helped with radiation poisoning in Japan in WWII. Soy sauce, which would traditionally be skimmed off the vats of fermenting miso, makes a delicious condiment. I’d go for a higher-end product, definitely get a naturally fermented version.
A third fermented soybean product is much less known in the US: natto. It can be found frozen in Asian markets, often eaten for breakfast. I’ve tried it, and lets say it’s definitely an acquired taste. However natto contains nattokinase, an enzyme which helps clean out your arteries! If you can’t stand natto, nattokinase is available in capsules at health food stores, etc.
I found that natto starts to get somewhat tasty after the 20th or so time. Before that, there’s that weird…I don’t know, rubber-esque taste to it?
Healthy stuff, though. Fermenting is a classic technique for transforming less-healthy foods into beneficial ones (particularly legumes and grains). Examples include sauerkraut (cabbage isn’t bad, but sauerkraut is somewhat better for you), miso, natto, fish sauces, and yoghurt (particularly beneficial for those with lactose sensitivities).
I want to add something about the soy sauce. Tamari is made from the miso fermentation process, but modern soy sauces are brews containing wheat and some other ingredients to simulate the flavor with a faster process. Check the ingredient list for “wheat” before consuming.
Slimy, rubbery… I might have 18 or so times to go.
Most store sauerkraut is pasteurized, the raw stuff is a speciality health-food store item in the cooler, or you can make your own.
Another healthy fermented food is Korean kim-chee, good if you like spicy and tangy tastes. Kombucha and dairy and water kefirs make tasty beverages.
Thanks for the addition about wheat being commonly used but non-traditional. Yeah, I always get the wheat-free type.
If you’re interested in making your own classic fermented foods, there are great recipes online. I’ve got some homemade kimchi in the fridge souring up for a soup.
The basic thing to know about fermenting cabbage is that the cabbage will do most of the work. For sauerkraut, for example, you only need to salt the cabbage and keep it cold under a weight – the water will come out of the cabbage and create a brine to ferment the product. As long as you skim the slime off it every couple of days (it’s excess bacteria, apparently), you’ll get a nice fermented product in a couple of weeks that can be jarred and stored for several months.
Also, for legumes, you don’t have to go all the way and ferment them. If you can get them to sprout for a couple of days, most of the bad juju will be gone. Apparently the mild toxins and undigestible fibers are part of the initial sprouting process.
Lot of soy is hidden in many foods, especially fast food and processed junk food. You really have to read labels.
4th reason. Few things are gayer than a dude ordering a soy latte.
Either man up and drink it black or use “full strength” milk.
I like it black like my women……
Me too. I even like my white chicks black.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/af48626f517f9bcddbc63d6194807bb8d7d8fded5aab82e61b3fed1fef0fcf34.jpg
Team111b
Is that squared jaw chick actually a dude? WTF?
It’s a film still from the movie: “White Chicks” (2004), starring Marlon and Shawn Wayans (pictured in full makeup).
They both are.
this screenshot is terrifying to me. Getting uncanny valley vibes for some reason!
So funny!
No amount of make up can fix that face sorry about that.
Its two black guys!
5. It tastes like shit!
No, I’ve not tasted shit, I just heard from a friend who did once and he likened it to the same thing as eating soy.
Soy ‘milk’ is terrible… I don’t know how anyone drinks it.
Rice milk is nice though
Same goes for almond
it will give you the runs also.
Indeed. How do you milk a bean anyway?
Soy latter is ultra super ghey. As you say either go black or use full cream milk if need be.
Unless the dude is working at a women’s clothing store at the mall. THAT is pretty fucking faggy too.
The way these Starbucks coffee have names as long as Chemistry IUPAC naming could indicate it has that much abnormal chemicals in them too
soy is good for prostate health, namely for prevention of prostate cancer. plenty of sources, here’s one:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/03/13/high-soy-diet-reduces-risk-prostate-cancer.html
Because test is linked to prostate cancer or better put, high test is blame for prostate cancer.
Corn and soybeans, 2 of the 3 things Indiana is known for.
Great article, Larsen.
If you haven’t already, you should look into the negative consequences of excessive almond intake. Among other things, heavy use of almond milk and almond flours can result in overdoses of vitamin E, migraines, and buildup of cyanide in the body.
Not to mention that almond milk usually has thickeners like sugar and soy.
So Larsen, in countries where tofu is abundant, what is the best way for me to get protein? I don’t trust any of the Chicken breast here in China as it’s also pumped full of oestrogen.
I’d say eggs are probably your most reliable bet. I think pork is pretty popular in China, as well, and if you’re near the coasts there’s always fish to be had.
Fish, eggs, some of the more unpopular cuts of meat (like organs and such)
Ah, quite right. I would regularly buy a skewer of duck hearts for pennies on the street. I’ll have to learn how to prepare them at home. Fish and fresh cruciferous vegetables are always available.
Fermented soy is not nearly as bad.
Another thing to be aware about soy, it’s often GMO’d to be ‘Roundup Ready’. Good for the producers, but some, like me, are wary of this.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d23549268c65c49bce758f489e3cb05eb3aa0100b9e157bc36550f71a91719a4.png
roundup aka glyphosate aka monsanto
“Dog and cat food manufacturers are proud to label their healthiest pet foods with ‘Does Not Contain Soy,’ while at the same time the American marketplace increasingly promotes soy products during pregnancy, to infants and to children, while sorely misleading the public with claims that these products are ‘nutritional.’”
https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/soy-alert/why-babies-should-not-be-fed-soy/
Soy baby formula has the same phytoestrogens which could be contributing to early sexual development in girls and retarded sexual development in boys. Kind of explains the snowflakes.
One can only imagine.
I think they’re branching out the formulas these days, now that soy has come under the microscope. A cursory reading suggests that Similac and Enfamil have milk-based formulas, and a brand I’ve never heard of (Neocate) has an amino-acid based formula.
Well, the breast is the best. Traditional baby formulas were based on milk, but they started using soy for babies with lactose intolerance.
I couldn’t find a graph for soy formula usage over the year, but I’ve found it estimated as 10% in the early 70’s already. A recent paper says soy infant formulas (SIF) are 12% of the market and about 25% of babies are fed SIF their first year.
This paper is an interesting “hypothesis and theory” from a neurology prof at the University of Wisconsin (WI is 2nd in dairy but also 13th in soybeans). TL;DR but here are some highlights:
A national panel concluded there was minimal concern with SIF, but also had a dissenting opinion:
“(1) There are sufficient signals of adverse reproductive and
developmental effects in experimental animals to worry about long-term
effects on development of infants; (2) infants are exquisitely sensitive
to the effects of exogenous chemicals during early life, and naturally
occurring genistein in SIF has a much stronger estrogenic effect than
non-natural estrogenic compounds on the developing reproductive system;
and (3) the absence of evidence of an effect in human studies is not the
same as evidence of absence of an effect, particularly given the
paucity of human data to inform the conclusion.”
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnut.2016.00059/full
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/afa0110e73bbe9714141507a178419694c417ed02ca9a2ba762a454a7ef4df3c.jpg
Maybe this can account to a certain extent in why there are so many sissies out there with high-pitched voices. I avoid soy like the plague and mock those who imbibe it.
early sexual development in girl, they grow tits at 7, That is not normal, The jail bait is real, Hey girl how are you, I´m 13, GET OUT OF HERE!
It’s been discussed in RoK comments before: the hops in beer are also a powerful phytoestrogen. Bummer, eh?
What’s strange is around here many of the microbreweries try to outdo each other in terms of how much hops they can put into their recipe. Hops is a preservative, I believe one of the first highly-hopped beers was English India Pale Ale (IPA) for the tropical Indian market.
Thats not surprising. The few times ive been to a craft brewery im surrounded by low testosterone betas with beards, problem glasses and tight flannels that hug their skinny armed, pudge bellied torso.
Soy beans increase the likelihood for flatulence? I am going to order 50 lbs of them along with some jalapeno sausages. It’s time to preform the dutch oven on the wife.
Soy protein may be complete proteins, but they aren’t the only plants with complete proteins. There are bananas and also hemp.
Soy contains enzyme inhibitors and other anti-nutrients that hamper protein digestion and block the absorption of certain minerals like zinc, which is why (non-GMO) soy is traditionally cooked and chemically precipitated to neutralize these anti-nutrients and then served with a meat dish (tofu) or better yet, fermented (tempeh and natto).
Soy phytoestrogens might also be turning some men gay if fed to them in early childhood. Another reason to just say no.
I think its blown out of proportion.SOy aint that bad.I consume it regularly and I dont think it affects my testosterone or manliness.I have good physique which you can see in my dp without the use of any meat or eggproducts as India is predominantly a vegetarian country.
Exactly, my testosterone result is 9.8 ng/ml (980 ng/dl, 34 nmol/l) and I’m vegan, eating lots of tofu.
Why are you a vegan?
Health reasons. Feeling great since I’ve switched to a plant based diet.
How long have you been doing this?
BS. Vegans actually have higher testosterone levels than vegetarians and meat-eaters: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2374537/pdf/83-6691152a.pdf
I eat lots of soy and my T level is 9.8 ng/ml, which is around 2 standard deviations above the mean – yes, I tested my T level exactly because of such articles and friends claiming soy affects my testosterone.
“BS. Vegans actually have higher testosterone levels than vegetarians and meat-eaters”
That is absolutely not true, outdated and not even the conclusion that that study came to; did you even read it?
Perhaps you can point me to a newer, more accurate study, with contradicting results?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3529694/#!po=57.9365
https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article-lookup/doi/10.1210/jcem.85.1.6291
“For total fasting serum testosterone (T) there was a significant interaction between diet and time (P < 0.01). Thus, the V diet resulted in a lower total T level (13.7, 9.8-32.4 nmol.l-1) (median and range) compared with the M diet (17.4, 11.8-33.5 nmol.l-1). During exercise after 6 wk on the diets total T was also significantly lower on the V than on the M diet (P < 0.05).”
http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/1435181
“Plasma levels of testosterone and estradiol-17 beta were significantly lower in the SV than in the omnivores.”
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/42/1/127
“Blood concentrations of sex hormones did not differ after the two diets, but the mean testosterone:oestradiol value was 10% higher (P = 0.06) after the meat diet.”
http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/11103227
“Our results indicate that in men a decrease in dietary fat content and an increase in the degree of unsaturation of fatty acids reduces the serum concentrations of androstenedione, testosterone and free testosterone.”
http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0022473184902541
“A lower nocturnal release of prolactin and testosterone occurred in men fed a vegetarian diet…”
http://www.cancerletters.info/article/S0304-3835(79)80054-3/pdf
Processed meats often contain soy as a filler
Be careful, always get premium cured meats which are pure
I wonder what was used as meat filler before soy became everywhere?
Either bread crumbs, flour, corn meal, rice, oats
Anything bland and starchy does the job
Another thing about soy the article fails to mention. It contains testosterone inhibitors that spike up and facilitate the production of estrogen in men. Unless you want to be effete avoid it and make sure your intake is as minimal as possible.
Low-brow? Farts are hilarious.
Watch out for salad dressings. Loads of soy oil, even the organic versions. Make you own dressings instead. I also don’t eat out much since many foods, especially fried, use soybean oil.
For those of you that enjoy your brews, be aware the IPAs contain what I call crypto estrogens from the hops. I used to drink a lot of IPAs; after all, you think that bitterness has a masculine edge to it, but the isoflavones kill your T-levels.
Guiness, the less preferred beer… Dark beers, Amber Ales and Wheat Beers seem not to have too much of this, any mass produced product will be done on the cheap, I.e. Soy filler, “Replacents” anything with an ingrdient listed as a number, avoid the stuff.
Go for local as far as possible and support a local craft brewer if you can.
The average Starbucks soy latte dude.
Is this why Asian men look a lot like Asian women?
At the same time those Asian men eat any meat you serve in front of them.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8bc4bc0bf6e846131866483d3e85b12db03ad7da1e14e4dbfa1dbec35bd92915.jpg
And that face ain’t feminine.
Soymik gives me the runs.
I don’t always eat plant-based protein, but when I do I eat quinoa.
…relatives of mine bought a bag of the “keen-wah” (to complement their bushels of kale) and I tried some. Bland little pellets, and not much better when prepared. I find it truly astonishing that Whole Foods-type hipsters have turned this meh-diocre plant into a cash crop.
Its pretty much rice except with protein. It tastes like what you flavor it with.
I’d choose chickpeas over soybeans too if you feel the need to serve something with your meat.
Quinoa is pretty good if you cook it with some chicken or beef stock. Try experimenting with it.
I thought people used soy to avoid problems with gastric problems with dairy. Do you think this is a myth?
I read this on WND.com several years ago and I have avoided soy religiously ever since.
Unfortunately, my evil witch of a mother used soy formula on me when I was an infant. It could be the reason I was a weak ectomorph when growing up.
Good soy discussion over on the ever amusing and informative EvilYoshida forum, mostly Asian MMA enthusiasts, “Stop The Soy You Nutless Idiots”:
“’Unlike in Asia where people eat small amounts of whole soybean products, western food processors separate the soybean into two golden commodities–protein and oil. There’s nothing safe or natural about this,’ Dr. Daniel says.
‘Today’s high-tech processing methods not only fail to remove the anti-nutrients and toxins that are naturally present in soybeans but leave toxic and carcinogenic residues created by the high temperatures, high pressure, alkali and acid baths and petroleum solvents,’ she continues.
The worst thing about this is the fact that soy products the fractionated products like soy protein isolate and hydrolyzed plant protein, all soy that is processed contains phytates that will block minerals from being absorbed and trypsin inhibitors that won’t let the digestion system to function properly.”
http://www.evilyoshida.com/thread-11277.html
Eat fresh Fruits and Vegetables, fruits down to 1 fruit serving a day, moderate amounts of different nuts and seeds and keep a balanced intake of REAL Meat, get organic / grass fed where possible. You won’t have place or time for all the other junk food out there, once you had a quality meal you won’t go hungry as you do on low cost cheap and nasty carbs.
Another point on Soy for men especially and maybe women too, Soy inhibits weight-loss, it won’t make you fat necessary, but it help those love handles hanging on, while you exercise like a demon and eat your smug portion of Soy like a good Vegan.
There should be a follow-up on the effects of the supposedly good soy that has been fermented.
But I love soy sauce ! Yum !
Fermented soy like miso and soy sauce are staples in my diet. Take a look at some food stuffs in your larder and frigging soy is in everything. Have tried to avoid it for years.
I’m quite fond of eating sushi with soy sauce. Will that have any bad effect?
monosodium glutamate is an excitotoxin
Consume anything in moderation and balance.
Try to look back to our primitive ancestors’ diet. They were omnivores. They ate plants and other animals too.
Soy, just like other beans and nuts, is actually not dangerous. Stop being so paranoid about it. It’s a great snack, but it never meant to be a main meal for some people.
Soy, almonds and/or meat are not the real enemy. It’s when they add chemical shit that isn’t supposed to be in that food in the first place is the real problem.
I’ve met masculine men who do not eat red meat at all for various reasons, yet they’re quite fit and muscular due to their jobs which require them to use their muscle a lot (traditional fishermen, carpenters, hunters, old-school farmers, etc). No matter what diet you choose, just don’t eat crap and stay physically active.
In a country where I’m currently staying, boys in villages are strong, lean, and muscular eventhough they only eat red meat on special occasions (red meat is expensive and often considered as a treat). Meanwhile, rich boys in cities who can afford expensive meats and avoid tofu like a plague (a peasant food, they say), are very feminine and flamboyant (sissy+fags).
Parents and government do not blame it on soy, but on FAST FOOD JOINTS for injecting their animals with esterogen so they will grow fatter faster hence they’ll sell better.
Added hormones on meat is the main culprit in creating feminine males here.
Just adding another perspective here.
“Conspiracy theorists posit…”
If by now, you do not believe in a global shadow govt elite that are implementing a mix of social engineering, psy ops, false flags, ripping away liberty, and infecting our water/food supplies – you aren’t red pilled.
Even if you go by Occam’s razor – that soy byproducts are cheaper filler than meat products, you don’t think the elites will use that to their goals anyhow?!
Real men drink coffee with whiskey….great painkiller for those ‘night-before’ bumfights…
Soy makes you fart? You say that like it was a bad thing.
0ver 90% of soy in US is GMO. http://www.organicauthority.com/health/what-are-the-safest-nongmo-soy-products.html
This article is really dumb. Look into the book of Genesis and see what diet had the antediluvian patriarchs (more concrete, Adam).
4 it tastes disgusting
Also, this must be why fast food gives me gas…