So here is a brief list of foods that are high in Estrogen or Estrogen mimic-ing chemicals.
Foods Containing Natural Estrogens
Alfalfa
Animal flesh
Anise seed
Apples
Baker's yeast
Barley
Beets
Carrots
Cherries
Chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
Clover
Cowpeas (black- eyed peas)
Cucumbers
Dairy Foods
Dates
Eggs
Eggplant
Fennel
Flaxseeds
Garlic
Hops
Licorice
Oats
Olive oil
Olives
Papaya
Parsley
Peas
Peppers
Plums
Pomegranates
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Red beans
Red clover
Rhubarb
Rice (relatively high)
Sage
Sesame seeds
Soybean sprouts
Soybeans
Split peas
Sunflower seeds
Tomatoes
Wheat
Yams
A brief synopsis of the following articles:
-There are no hormones in chicken feed. In Canada, the use of hormones in chicken feed has been banned since the 1960s. However some producers inject the chickens directly until the last 3-6mths before slaughter.
-On a body building diet that is so carefully balanced and limited the effects of foods like yam and soy can be more evident. Yam effects hormone levels in the body.
-Soy is one of the most genetically modified products out there. Soy interferes with protein digestion, and the soy estrogens are endocrine disruptors, (by binding with estrogen receptors) potentially creating fertility problems and breast or uterine cancer in women, and reducing testosterone in men. It is worth noting that in January 2006, the American Heart Association reversed its position recommending the consumption of soy to lower the chance of heart disease, after reviewing 22 recent studies, and noted that the FDA's original recommendation was based on a single study funded by the soy industry.
For the average human being none of this would be a concern. The body builder, especially when competing, is on such a strict diet and hormonal balance that any outside source of hormones into the body can have a strong effect. While discussing this topic with some of the men at the gym there were several first case scenarios where a diet rich in Soy, Chicken, and yam specifically led to Gyno effects while preparing for competition.
Here are the articles for further reading.
Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 24, No. 4, 235-243 (2005)
Published by the American College of Nutrition
Estrogenic Effect of Yam Ingestion in Healthy Postmenopausal Women
Wen-Huey Wu, PhD, Li-Yun Liu, PhD, Cheng-Jih Chung, MS, RD, Hei-Jen Jou, MD and Tzong-An Wang, MD
Graduate Program of Nutrition, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, TAIWAN
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Shih Chien University, Taipei, TAIWAN
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taiwan Adventist Hospital, Taipei, TAIWAN
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Municipal Yang-Ming Hospital, Taipei, TAIWAN
Address reprint requests to: Wen-Huey Wu, PhD, Associate Professor of Nutrition, Graduate Program of Nutrition, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, 106, TAIWAN. E-mail:
t10005@cc.ntnu.edu.tw
Objective: Yam (Dioscorea) has been used to treat menopausal symptom folklorically. This study was to investigate the effects of yam ingestion on lipids, antioxidant status, and sex hormones in postmenopausal women.
Methods: Twenty-four apparently healthy postmenopausal women were recruited to replace their staple food (rice for the most part) with 390 g of yam (Dioscorea alata) in 2 of 3 meals per day for 30 days and 22 completed the study. Fasting blood and first morning urine samples were collected before and after yam intervention for the analyses of blood lipids, sex hormones, urinary estrogen metabolites and oxidant stress biomarker. The design was a one arm, pre-post study. A similar study of postmenopausal women (n = 19) fed 240 g of sweet potato for 41 days was included as a control study. Serum levels of estrone, estradiol and SHBG were analyzed for this control group.
Results: After yam ingestion, there were significant increases in serum concentrations of estrone (26%), sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) (9.5%), and significant increase in estradiol (27%). No significant changes were observed in serum concentrations of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, androstenedione, testosterone, follicular stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone. Free androgen index estimated from the ratio of serum concentrations of total testosterone to SHBG decreased. Urinary concentrations of the genotoxic metabolite of estrogen, 16-hydroxyestrone decreased significantly by 37%. Plasma cholesterol concentration decreased significantly by 5.9%. Lag time of low-density lipoprotein oxidation prolonged significantly by 5.8% and urinary isoprostane levels decreased significantly by 42%. For the control subjects fed with sweet potato, all three hormone parameters measured were not changed after intervention.
Conclusion: Although the exact mechanism is not clear, replacing two thirds of staple food with yam for 30 days improves the status of sex hormones, lipids, and antioxidants in a significnat way. These effects reduce the risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular diseases in postmenopausal women.
The soy controversy
by Vreni Gurd | Sat, 03/24/2007 - 5:40pm | permalink
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Featured in: Nutrition & Life
The soy industry has managed to market a waste product as a health food, and gullible consumers are eating their way to health problems.
Soy is often touted as healthy, and it can be if you pick your soy products carefully, but most of the soy that is on the market is actually very hard on our systems. I was completely fooled by the propaganda on soy and bought into this one hook, line and sinker, feeling virtuous switching to soy milk when I found out I was sensitive to poor quality dairy.
Like all grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, soybeans have a phytate layer to stop the beans from sprouting unless there is adequate moisture and warmth. The phytate layer in soybeans is much thicker than in other grains and legumes and cannot be eliminated with soaking, sprouting or long slow cooking. This means that soybeans are very difficult to digest, and the phytic acid reduces assimilation of calcium, magnesium copper, iron and zinc.
Soy interferes with protein digestion, and the soy estrogens are endocrine disruptors, (by binding with estrogen receptors) potentially creating fertility problems and breast or uterine cancer in women, and reducing testosterone in men. These soy phytoestrogens also are anti-thyroid agents, causing sluggish thyroids, possibly thyroid cancer, and weight gain.
Soy increases the body's requirement for B12 and Vitamin D. Soy food processing results in the formation of MSG, which is a well known neurotoxin (nerve poison), and soy contains high levels of aluminum which is known to be toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys. Unless labeled organic, assume that all soybean products are genetically modified.
It is worth noting that in January 2006, the American Heart Association reversed its position recommending the consumption of soy to lower the chance of heart disease, after reviewing 22 recent studies, and noted that the FDA's original recommendation was based on a single study funded by the soy industry. The soy that should be avoided are soy isolate products like:
• Soy milk
• Soy protein powder/bars
• Soy nuts
• Soy cheese
• Soy burgers
• Soy yogurt
• Soy ice cream
• Soy baby formula
By avoiding packaged food, one can avoid soy disguised on food labels as:
• Textured vegetable protein (TVP)
• Textured plant protein
• Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
• Vegetable protein concentrate
• Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
• Lecithin (usually from soy)
• Vegetable oil (usually from soy)
• Vegetable broth (usually from soy)
• Bouillon (usually from soy)
• Natural flavour (usually from soy)
• Mono-diglyceride(usually from soy)
Soy infant formula is a very bad idea, as the baby gets far too much phytoestrogen for its bodyweight, which messes with the baby's hormones even more than in adults. The estrogenic effects of soy on infants can be irreversible, resulting in delayed or absent sexual maturation in males, and extremely accelerated sexual maturation in females. Soy formula predisposes females to breast cancer and fertility problems later in life.
For those of you that are dairy intolerant and want a milky substitute for your whole-grain cereal, you may be able to tolerate a non-homogenized organic plain yogurt (raw is better if you can get it), or look for a rice milk or almond milk that does not have a vegetable oil listed in the ingredient list, or try organic full-fat coconut milk. Yummy! (No, the fat in coconut milk will not make you fat - lauric acid is a medium-chain fatty-acid that is metabolized immediately by the liver, and is very healthful for the body due to its antibacterial and antiviral factors.)
If you are a soy fan, naturally fermented and/or cultured ORGANIC soy (to avoid GMO) is very healthful, so look for foods like:
• Miso – try to find it with unrefined sea salt
• Tamari – wheat free
• Natto
• Tempeh
• Extra-firm Tofu with nigari
• Organic Edamame, cooked
• Organic Soybean sprouts
For more information on the problems with soy, read The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food by Kaayla Daniel.
More to come.
