Page 78 - Spring2015

Soy Alert!

“MOOBS”: MAN BOOBS AND SOY
By Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN

So many of our young men are growing long-term condition, and it can occur in boys
breasts these days that the word “moobs”—short and men who are underweight, overweight and
for “man boobs”—has entered popular vernacu- normal weight.
lar. While the word itself sounds amusing, it’s Why is this happening? Environmental es-
a heartbreaking trend for young men and their trogens are surely a factor. But so is soy. Young
families, and a booming business for surgeons men at the highest risk are those who were given
who specialize in breast reduction surgery. soy infant formula during infancy and/or who
Why is this happening? The New York Times regularly drank soy milk during their childhoods
and other major media report that while no one and teenage years. Such boys are not only at risk
knows for sure why gynecomastia (the techni- for “moobs” but may show other estrogenic signs
cal term for “moobs”) is on the rise, many claim as well, including lowered quantity and quality
that environmental estrogens found in plastics, of sperm, undersized genitals, undescended tes-
pesticides, drinking water, and supermarket ticles, and other reproductive system problems.
meats and poultry should take the blame. Widely Scientists first linked phytoestrogens (plant
Men noted is the fact that in the past “moobs” rarely estrogens) with lowered sperm count and other
were found outside the bodybuilding community, reproductive problems in the 1940s when they
remain at risk where steroid use led to what the men liked to call diagnosed clover disease in sheep. Red clover
for “moobs” “bitch tits.” Today, however, they are appearing contains a type of phytoestrogen known as
throughout in fit and unfit young men alike. coumestans, which are similar in their effect to
Many of these boys and men have increased the isoflavones found in soybeans. When sheep
their lives fatty tissue because they are overweight or obese. graze heavily on red clover, they can develop red
and so would Although this gives the appearance of “moobs,” clover disease, which causes normal male sheep

do well to it is not the same as true enlargement and is to became infertile and castrated males—called
diagnosed as pseudogynecomastia. Doctors wethers—to experience teat enlargement and
take it easy also report that fifty percent or more of boys nipple discharge. Rodents, primates, and hu-
on the soy. experience at least periods of hormonal imbal- mans experience similar feminizing effects if
ance where “moobs” appear but then flatten out their reproductive development is disrupted by
in a few months. True gynecomastia is a more estrogens that either interact directly with the

UPDATES ON SOY LITIGATION

SOY PRISON LAWSUIT: On February 25, 2015, Judge Baker of the United States District Court for the central district of
Illinois cited conflicting scientific evidence when he dismissed the claim of Harris and others that the feeding of too much
soy constituted a violation of their Eighth Amendment Constitutional rights. With the backing of the Weston A. Price Foun-
dation, Harris and the other plaintiffs will appeal to the Seventh Circuit United States Court of Appeals, located in Chicago.

SOY LABELING PETITION: In 2008, WAPF sent a citizen petition to the FDA urging regulators to withdraw the claim that
soy could prevent heart disease. After more than six years and no response from FDA, WAPF is suing the agency to address
the petition. After meetings with FDA officials and James Turner, Esq, the Foundation's general counsel, the FDA promised
a reply within six months.
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