Comments on: Avoid Ruining Your Testosterone Levels

By: John

John — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 20:27:53 +0000

Non-stick surfaces are coated with teflon. Not sure if they use FEP or PTFE but it is a plastic… Cooking with it of course heats the plastics… do you feel this should be avoided as well?
Also, I didn’t see any mention of soy sauce… processed from soy… would it also have a negative effect on testosterone?

By: Stefan

Stefan — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 11:05:32 +0000

It seems that processed soy foods (tofu, soy milk etc.) DO NOT decrease testosterone levels in humans.

I found a meta-analysis that summarizes the results of 32 clinical studies that looked at this. The authors summarized their results as:

“The objective of this meta-analysis was to evaluate in men the effects of soy protein or isoﬂavone intake on T and other indicators of bioavailable T[estosterone], such as SHBG, free T[estosterone], and FAI as reported in clinical trials. The results indicate that neither soy protein nor isoﬂavone intake signiﬁcantly alters any of these measures.”

Hamilton-Reeves et al. (in press). Clinical studies show no effects of soy protein or isoflavones on reproductive hormones in men: Results of a meta-analysis. Fertility and Sterility.

http://www.mv.helsinki.fi/jmtsihvo/Hamilton-Reeves_2009_Fertility-and-Sterility.pdf

By: Aiden Thompson

Aiden Thompson — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 19:51:33 +0000

Everyone really wants some good way of stress management. Yoga and meditation are good.’~`

By: raymond

raymond — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 10:20:54 +0000

Does the plastics concern extend to hot water pots. My wife and I boil water for her tea and my coffee press in a pot made of some sort of plastic.

@ Raymond: Yes it would be a potential source of Xenoestrogens. Definitely consider switching to a glass pot if you can…..

By: Robin White

Robin White — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 03:30:01 +0000

I would say that it’s not a good idea to”soak up the sun”. I feel that most people erroneously feel like the sun “rejuvenates” us. It has been shown that taking Vitamin D is good, but activation of the D from the sun only requires 15 minutes per day to hit your retina. There is no evidence that your skin needs to bake out there. In fact that much sun is definitely not good as previously believed. We end up with lots of wrinkles, skin cancers in light skinned people and it actually can be a stressor on the body, bringing out herpes sores, etc. So I need to disagree with you on that one.

I think as long as the plastic is not under heat, it should not be a major contributor to bad estrogens. Supposedly Sheryl Crow believed she got breast cancer from the bottles of water that were constantly stored in her car. Who knows. I guess it’s better to be careful until further studies are done.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 11:55:04 +0000

Hi. Thanks for your post. I agree with your point that we should avoid plastic and soy if possible.

Do you think we avoid all plastic in our food? I usually buy frozen steaks wrapped in plastic. I am not sure if there is any compounds that are leaked into my steaks from the plastic wrapping.

Also, is vitamin D status important to keep our testerone level? I think i read somewhere it is also a vital component.

@ Daniel: Plastic packaging is somewhat unavoidable these days and while I am sure it doesn’t help it is not the primary problem. The primary problem seems to be heating things in plastic (microwaving etc) or even leaving bottled water out in the hot which will cause the chemicals to leak into the water….

Vitamin D is hugely important to hormone levels and Vitamin D deficiency can certainly affect hormone levels across the board, not only testosterone. So make sure you soak up the sun this summer

By: Lynne

Lynne — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 11:05:12 +0000

Hi, does melamine pose the same risks as plastic? We have children, so it’s a practical option for us to use melamine water cups…thx, Lynne

@ Lynne: I have recently been researching Melamine and it seems to be some pretty hazardous stuff. If you can I would try to find an alternative to the water cups regularly. Saying this so long as you do not use them for hot drinks or leave them in the sun with liquid inside they will probably be fine in terms of Xenoestrogens leaking…..

By: Shara

Shara — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 14:31:39 +0000

I still don’t get why soy is so bad for you, I always thought it was important for women with low estrogen levels. Is it the same for women, I’m a vegetarian and use soy as a protein replacement, I’ve been having a problem loosing the 10 lbs I want to loose, I will do an experiment and cut it out and see what happens. Very interesting article. I don’t use plastic but probably too much soy, they put it in alot of things these days.

very interesting article
thankyou
Shara

@ Shara: It is more about refined Soy being a problem and being estrogenic. When soy is used how it is meant to be:

Soy is fine used in its traditional context, so things like tempeh, edamame, miso and other natural soy products may have health benefits.

So jusy steer away from refined, processed soy and you will be fine. The reason the stuff is oestrogenic mainly comes down to the processing.

By: 06/24/10 – Thursday Triplet

06/24/10 – Thursday Triplet — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 02:01:37 +0000

[...] Avoid ruining your testosterone levels – Zen to Fitness [...]

By: Hugh

Hugh — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:35:15 +0000

Now this is a headline that’ll get any guy’s attention. My wife and I gave up plastics about 6 months ago and made the switch to glass. There are just too many warnings about microwaving in plastics especially.

I’ve certainly noticed a decrease in testosterone levels (judging on how I feel) due to drinking, over-training, and also due to mental stress. Our bodies are really amazing.

Thanks for the good tips.