Monday, 10 May 2010

Health Scare Story Du Jour

Normally, the health scare stories relate to things you quite enjoy doing, like drinking, smoking, full English breakfasts, sun tanning etc etc, but here's a corker from today's Evening Standard. It must be true because it's full of really long words and everything:

Soya beans can interfere with sperm production, researchers claimed today.

Scientists in China are studying a naturally-occurring ingredient of soya beans, increasingly sold as substitutes for dairy-based food. Their research centred on genistein, a chemical known to interact with the “receptor” molecules of cells designed to respond to oestrogens.

Ren-Shan Ge of the Wenzhou Medical College in China found that genistein could interfere with the production of enzymes involved in producing sperm. “Following ingestion, soy isoflavones are known to reach the reproductive organs,” the researchers said. “Thus, excessive exposure to agents that exhibit oestrogenic activity may affect male reproductive tract developments and functions.”


Right at the end, a few nice short words

But Professor Ieuan Hughes of Cambridge University said an inquiry had failed to find any adverse effects.

10 comments:

Witterings from Witney said...

MW, congrats - yet another post that is 'hard-on' supposition, or is that facts.

Mark Wadsworth said...

WFW, that's a bit subtle for me. I'd describe the article as complete 'bollocks'.

Witterings from Witney said...

"male reproductive tract developments and functions" - hard-on?

Apols - tad of 'base' humour that suffered from flacidity!

James Higham said...

Flacidity or flatulence?

View from the Solent said...

Hmm, let's see. Soya, much eaten in China. That'll be why they have so few births then.

Anonymous said...

Soya lecithin is an ingredient in most chocolate.

Gives a whole new meaning to that saying "a Mars a day helps you work rest and play".

Henry North London 2.0 said...

Soya that hasnt been fermented makes you female and it also kills reproductivity

No the chinese and japanese do not eat unfermented soya

We do but they certainly do not
and not in any thing like the quantities we consume

Soya is poison

Look up westonaprice.org

Dr Evil said...

This has been in the scientific literature for years, with nothing definitive. My observation is that China, a huge country, has a massive population, even after huge famines, massive internal rebellions and Genghis Khan murdering many millions of people long ago. A staple food is, wait for it........soya beans and their derivatives.

Case closed!

Dr Evil said...

Fermenting soy beans doesn't destory these here feminising (allegedly) chemicals either.

Physiocrat said...

Be warned, then, don't stuff soya beans in your underpants.