I find a lot of controversial articles on the internet about soy decreasing testosterone levels.

What's everybody's take on it here? I used to eat tofu all the time but I stopped because I didn't want to risk it. I thought I haven't been having any soy until I noticed there's soy lecithin in my protein powder ingredients.

I'm not taking any kind of soy. It can affect your T levels, also alter plasma androgen hormone levels, induces the body to break down muscle protein in order for it to get its required amino acids also shrinks your testicals..and so on. So i think it's better not to use it, any kind of soy product also proteins wih soy in it. Yes soybeans is roughly 41% protein so in that matter its top ranked, it's rich with branched chain amino acids, lysine and arginine, but low on methionine and cysteine.. so maybe occasionally eating would affect that much on body and T levels.

I've heard both sides of the argument, so for that reason I got ahead and avoid it to make sure. Plus Soy is basically the most gentically modified thing you can have so It has some things stacked against it. Unless your vegan and need a way to get protien I see no reason In consuming it just to make sure

Robert,

I agree there is many controversial opinions on soy. They say the same about Flaxseed and other plants with phytoestrogens. The bottom line is eating edamame or some tofu on occassion as well as soy sauce will not affect your testosterone levels. You need to stay away from the heavily processed soy products like soy milk, soybean oil, and soy lecithin. Soy lecithin is hard to completely avoid but the levels in our protein powders is negligible. You have more of a risk of testosterone disruption from Bisphenol-A in plastics and the linning of cans.

John

Yea.. so many products have soy lecithin. I can see why you do clean eating. Thanks for the info John :)

I was thinking along the same lines as John. I haven't studied the effects of Soy or anything like that, but if the only soy you are getting is from the Soy Lecithin in your protein, I wouldn't think it would be enough to have any effect, let alone a significant effect on T-levels.

Make sure you're getting your Vitamin D and Saturated Fats, and that much-needed sleep to make sure those T-Levels are optimized. You're right, soy lecithin is in a lot, especially when it comes to protein. It's used more as a bidning ingredient.

Jordan

The challenge we Americans face is we produce more corn than anyone in the world and we are a major supplier of soy and wheat as well. All these crops are subsidized by the USDA - farmers get more money the more yield they produce due to an agriculture policy change in the 70's under Nixon. This keeps the cost of corn, soy, and wheat down not only in the U.S. but also as exports to other countries. As a result, the food industy has produced many cheaper food additives like high fructose corn syrup and soy lecithin for food manufacturers to use that leverage all this excess supply. Since they are very cheap, these companies use them in bulk regardless of their metabolic or nutritional value.

It may sound like conspiracy theory but just watch the movie Food,Inc, FedUp, GMO OMG on iTunes, Netflix, etc. It shows you how the big food companies are like the tobacco industry - spending millions on research into food additives, placement in stores, and colors that will make you buy and continue to buy via addiction. Sugar is a key component of the addiction process. Tied into this is the pharmaceutical and medical industries who reap huge profits selling and prescribing the mass amounts of drugs they push and recommend to deal with all the health issues caused by a high sugar, heavily processed food diet. This is why you can't get unbiased research and info on natural supplements and using nutrition to cure illness - there is no control via patents and no way to make money. Sad but true :-/

John