Man boobs, man tits, man boobies, a beloved child has many names, but in the case of man boobs they’re not really that wanted. For the longest time soy has been a hot topic when it comes to promoting the growth of titties, especially in men. To become a vegetarian or vegan is already a little bit frowned upon in the male community, and the claim that soy can give you bigger boobs isn’t really helping them in making the transition. So, does soy cause man boobs? Let’s put a pin in this claim once and for all!
What is soy?
Let’s start with the basics. What is soy? Well, not to knock down anyone’s intelligence here, but it should be pretty self explanatory. Soy is made from soybeans which is a type of legume who started it’s journey in East Asia. Today, soy has become a popular guy as a vegetarian protein alternative. Soy is now the man behind tofu, miso soup, tempeh, soy milk, and the edamame bean. Soy, the man, the myth, the legend, and now, the best plastic surgeon in town!
Except for being a protein packed veggie alternative, soy also contains a lot of health providing nutrients. Don’t we all know how much I love my nutrients? We should all actually love nutrients, because they are keeping us alive. In soy we can find vitamin C, calcium, folate, iron, potassium, and fiber. Not to bad for someone who’s got the black sheep stamp.
How did soy get the man boob reputation?
I mean, it seems like soy is pretty healthy, so how did it manage to get this bad reputation? Besides the fact that it is being “man boob-shamed”, some people also claim that the consumption of soy can cause cancer, female infertility, and other diseases. Pretty harsh accusations! This guy just wanted to explore the world, and now he’s torn between people who both love and hate him. I guess that’s how you know you made it though.
Okay, all jokes aside. When and why did the hate start pouring in over our soy guy? It all started with the GMO area, in which we currently live, unfortunately. Since a lot of soy is being genetically modified it has shown that the consumption of GMO soy products can cause these man boobs and these other (more serious to be honest) diseases. To be completely honest, no GMO food is particularly healthy, no matter if it’s soy, chicken, or that milkshake which brings all the boys to the yard. It’s also said that the estrogen-like substance isoflavons found in soy is the culprit for the enlarged man breast.
Soy is universal
Soy can be used in more than just tofu and your miso soup starter at the sushi restaurant. With soy being made up of 40 % protein and 20 % oil we can now use the extracted oil to make everything from supplements to bio diesel. No, I am not kidding.
When we extract the soy bean oil we can produce ingredients like soy lecithin which is a common ingredient in candy bars, protein supplements and powders, and bread, to name just a few things. I bet you that if you stroll down to the grocery store right now, you’ll find at least five products containing soy lecithin within the first 10 minutes of browsing around. Who wants in on this bet? Winner treats the loser for a Swedish fika?
Your mind is still stuck on the bio diesel thing, huh? The jump from food to diesel is pretty steep, so I wouldn’t blame your for a puzzled mind. Soy is an easy crop to grow, compared to other crops. It doesn’t require any extra fertilizer, it’s cheap, and the usage of the beans are, as mentioned, many. Simply by mixing the soybean oil with other chemicals, one can produce bio diesel. This is not a blog about bio diesel though, so I won’t dig deeper into the topic but if you’re interested in that you can read about it here.
Unhealthy or na?
Now you might be wondering if soy is healthy or not. Should I, or should I not add tofu to my panang curry next time I’m at a Thai restaurant? Soy is, despite the claims a very healthy food, as long as you eat it in its purest form. Tofu, edamame beans, soy milk, and miso are all very nutritious and provide us with proteins, healthy fats, and an abundance of vitamins and minerals. When eating soy in these forms it’s whole and real. The problem with soy comes with the extracted ingredients like soy lecithin that is added to all these processed foods. This is the soy you should stay away from, and this is the soy that can cause disease.
What about soy and man boobs?
And to answer the question you’ve all been waiting for, what about the man titties? Will the tofu make all males grown a pair of double D’s? There’s actually a real medical term for “man boobs” called gynecomastia. So, yes, there’s been some research about this and the answer is simple, it’s no. What!? Are you just busting this myth this easy?
I mean, think about it. If soy increased the estrogen levels and made our boobs grow bigger, wouldn’t plastic surgeons be out of business? If it was that easy, I’d increase my cup size a long time ago. But no, soy won’t make you grow larger titties. Not man boobs, not female boobs, no boobs at all. The estrogen found in soy products are not the same as the human, female estrogen… it would be pretty disgusting if it was. Almost a low grade cannibalistic thing…
Isoflavons and estrogen
Okay, in all seriousness, let’s get to the bottom of this “estrogen” claim. Soy contains isoflavons, which are said to act like estrogen in the human body. But do they actually cause the growth of men’s breasts? No, it really doesn’t. A variety of research has shown that eating soy doesn’t effect man boobs at all. On the contrary, when we look at the American male population compared to the Asian male population, who by far consumes more soy than Americans, we actually see more male boobs in American men. The real culprit behind man boobs is overweight and aging. Simple as that.
So to all you males out there, eat your tofu with good conscience! It provides you with natural plant protein and a ton of additional vitamins and minerals. If you keep a healthy lifestyle, exercise, and take care of yourself, you won’t see any man boobs anytime soon!
Sources
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/a20707020/is-soy-good-or-bad-for-you/
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320472.php
http://www.mofga.org/Publications/The-Maine-Organic-Farmer-Gardener/Winter-2003-2004/Grow-Edamame
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20378106
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vdb383/no-eating-soy-isnt-going-to-give-you-manboobs