3J
Super Moderator
Phytoestrogens: Foods to Avoid as a Male Bodybuilder
By:3J
ww.3jsdiet.com
By:3J
ww.3jsdiet.com
The human body has a complex endocrine system that regulates hormones in correlation with the sex of the individual. One of the important regulations that the male endocrine system controls is the testosterone to estrogen ratio. The definitive characteristics males develop come from testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (aka DHT). Testosterone plays the main role in male characteristics while DHT plays the secondary role. The male human body statistically likes to keep a 10 to 1 ratio of testosterone to estrogen. When there is an imbalance between these two hormones the body will try its best to make adjustments to enforce such a ratio. If your testosterone gets too high your body aromatizes testosterone to estrogen in an effort to keep the ratio, hence why aromatization in steroid users occur and there is a strong need for a selective estrogen receptor modulator or aromatase inhibitor while on cycle.
Phytoestrogens are estrogens that are not produced by the human body. They occur naturally in food sources that humans eat. Though Phytoestrogens are not truly “human estrogen,” they are xenoestrogens. Xenoestrogens are not chemically identical to human estrogen, but their similarities are so close that they can have an estrogenic effect on the human body. It’s important to note that these naturally occurring phytoestrogens are weaker versions of our human body’s estrogen. They have a much milder impact on the body. For the natural bodybuilder, a little bump in estrogen is not a bad thing. It promotes muscle growth and helps prevent injury. Most of the foods im about to list can safely be eaten regularly for the natural bodybuilder. The body’s endocrine system will easily regulate any xenoestrogens that have been consumed. Unfortunately, the same does not apply for the steroid user. One of the top priorities a steroid user has is estrogen control. High estrogen can cause a number of unwanted sides like bloat and erectile dysfunction. Here is a list of foods that naturally have higher phytoestrogens in them. Many of these foods have dense rich nutrients and should not be removed from your diet due to the fact that the good outweighs the possible rise in estrogen, I personally avoid soy and soy derived products due to its higher phytoestrogen content.
(list sourced from Wikipedia)
• Soybeans and soy products
• Tempeh
• Linseed (flax)
• Sesame seeds
• Wheatberries
• Fenugreek (contains diosgenin, but also used to make Testofen®, a compound taken by men to increase testosterone).
• Oats
• Barley
• Beans
• Lentils
• Yams
• Rice
• Alfalfa
• Mung beans
• Apples
• Carrots
• Pomegranates
• Wheat germ
• Rice bran
• Lupin
• Kudzu
• Coffee
• Licorice root
• Mint
• Ginseng
• Hops
• bourbon
• Beer
• Fennel
• Anise
• Red clover (sometimes a constituent of green manure).
