I love tofu. I love boiling, frying tofu: soft, firm, anything. I love eating it with anything; as a desert with some light syrup or for a meal.

BUt I keep reading it's bad becuase of estrogen and such. I mean asians have been eating tofu for a while... if I eat tofu 4 times a week should i be scared?

As pretty much a vegetarian myself I've been wondering for a while about this. I've reduced my consumption of it a lot just in case.

You mention it's used in Asia a lot and while I realize this is a generalization, you don't see that many HUGE Chinese fellas do you? (relative to the amount of big European and African blokes).

Diet has got to play a big part in that.

Well, there I don't think they even have gyms to workout. Chinese and Japanese focus more on bodyweight exercises, and carrying water and such things. Sure they build muscle just as cosmetic as us. I'm pretty sure it's genetics. Look at Bruce Lee, he's probably the most well-known Chinese athlete, and some of the people on this forum are bigger than him.

I mean... I'm eating tofu tonight... and I dont know

I'm raising a couple of vegetarian kids, so this worries me. It's not just a problem for men but also for children and perhaps women. There is a lot of hyperbole out there, but this article (http://www.mothering.com/articles/growing_child/food/soy_story.html)seems to be sound. And at the end you can click to see all the references. I've heard that fermented soy (like tempeh and miso) is better than tofu, but I haven't researched this.

Here (http://www.t-nation.com/article/diet_and_nutrition/soy_whats_the_big_deal&cr=dietAndNutrition) is an interesting article.

BUt I keep reading it's bad becuase of estrogen and such. I mean asians have been eating tofu for a while... if I eat tofu 4 times a week should i be scared?

On this point I've read that Asians don't really eat that much tofu.

My fridge always has a tub of tofu... and when i go out for a chinese dinner at chinatown, we always have tofu.

But anyways, that article from T-Nation disproves the bad myths about tofu.


Anyways... my protein shake... I actually mix 2 diffferent brands. And in one brand, they say that soy protein is good for supproting and rebuilding muscle tissue, something that whey and casein DO not do. The brand uses 1/3 casein, 1/3 whey, 1/3 soy. Then I mix that with another brand of 100% whey protein.

I was into that anti-soy,anti-tofu gig for awhile.

Currently I am of the opinion that it is the most overblown B.S. on the planet.

Eat all the tofu you want.

To cause the estrogen reaction thing you'd have to eat about 200 lbs of tofu a day, (or soy).

I have read several articles over the past few months where they tried to document the estrogen/lowered testo thing by doing control studies.

What they found was it made no difference at all, except in one bodybuilder who had outrageously high testo....and all it did to him was lower his testo to normal.

Soy/tofu has a lot of BCAA's in it....and helps lower bad cholesterol.
Plus it's packed with protein and several other goodies.

Eat and enjoy......your chances of getting jugs like Janet Jackson are zero.

On another note.....I've noticed that while many Asians are certainly not "big" as we know it, they are in fact often very strong for their size.

So on one hand you could blame diet because they are not massive, but on the other hand you could also say that they must be eating right somehow to be so strong for their size in many cases.

I agree with heavymetal. I too love tofu, I find it at lot handier than meat sometimes. There are a lot of benefits. I think some of the bad press came from far too much soy! It's like anything else....moderation. If all your protein was soy then maybe down the road you'd run into some issues, but I think the same could be said if all one's protein came from beef. I've always thought that it's best to eat a variety of sources, cover your bases.

I keep away from soy. Might have allergies to it. I've got to read food labels. On top of the negative metabolic disruptions I experience from it, it's an inferior source when compared to whey, egg, casein.

Here's Charles Poliquin's take on soy. An interesting fella, to say the least. I've been to a couple of his seminars. Goes against the grain on lots of stuff:


I was put on the spot recently by Jonny Bowden, who wanted me to provide a full explanation of my position on soy (i.e. “it is for dorks.”)
People love lists, so here are five reasons not to eat soy!

Reason 1 - Toxicity
Soy increases your toxic load. It is one of the most sprayed crops. Their high content of pesticides increases your ever-increasing toxic load. In addition, aluminum content skyrockets while processing.

Reason 2 – Potential hypothyroidism
Soy contains goitragens, which are compounds that lead to hypothyroidism. To learn more about fighting hypothyroidism, attend one my Biosignature Modulation seminars.

Reason 3 – Blocking mineral absorption
Soy has a high content of phytates, which are known to inhibit the absorption of both macro-minerals (i.e. calcium) and trace minerals (i.e. zinc). The good news is that meat consumption blocks phytates. If you are going to eat tofu, make sure to eat some meat during the same meal.

Reason 4 – Link to Attention Deficit Disorder
Soy based infant formulas are linked to ADD. They contain 80 times more manganese than breast milk. Too much manganese content is linked to neurotoxicity.

Reason 5 – Increased cardiovascular load
Hemaglutinin is found in soybeans. This compound is known to make red blood cells aggregate, therefore increasing your cardiovascular load.

If you are not convinced, read Dr. Kaayla Daniel’s book, The Whole Soy Story. The information and research provided here will blow you away.
In conclusion, soy IS for dorks.

Asians and other cultures have been eating soy and tofu products for centuries.

Right now Brazil is making a fortune supplying China with Soy.

If Poliquin is to be believed, the carnage and sickness rate from eating this stuff should have been running rampant throught the Asian continent years back.......but it isn't.

Just more fear-mongering from control groups working for certain interests who would rather have you eat some other processed shit that they've come up.

I have actually read bodybuilder mags (FLEX for one) where they suggest including Soy Pro powder along with your Whey.

Pesticide sprays?......everything we consume from the fruit and veg section of the the supermarket is drenched in longevity agents and bug repellants.

If you're not peeling and skinning every fruit you eat, you're loading up on toxins.

And the veggys are tougher because most of them you can't peel or skin. And washing them doesn't do much.

You can reject Soy and Tofu.....and then head on down to Tim Horton's and catch some cancer from their doughnuts, which are loaded with cell-destroying Trans Fats.

Big Food USA doesn't want you eating Soy....they want you eating what they make.

Big Food USA doesn't want you eating Soy....they want you eating what they make.

Soy is a huge part of Big Food USA. From what I've read, the United States is the world's leading producer of soy and next year is estimated to produce 3 billion bushels. The second leading producer of soy is Brazil -- and farming for soy is leading to even more deforestation there. According to one article, (http://www.mariri.net/content/view/28/1/) thanks to this, "The Amazon is beginning to look like Kansas."

I'm not saying that we can avoid Big Agriculture altogether, but I just want to point out that soy is part of that and certainly not outside it.

Soy is a huge part of Big Food USA. From what I've read, the United States is the world's leading producer of soy and next year is estimated to produce 3 billion bushels. The second leading producer of soy is Brazil -- and farming for soy is leading to even more deforestation there. According to one article, (http://www.mariri.net/content/view/28/1/) thanks to this, "The Amazon is beginning to look like Kansas."

I'm not saying that we can avoid Big Agriculture altogether, but I just want to point out that soy is part of that and certainly not outside it.

:nod: Soy and corn are in everything. Both are subsidized by the US government.

And look at how fit we all look in this country! :D ;)

I stand corrected.

I knew Brazil was big on Soy.....right now just about all of their Soy goes to China.

In the past there have been incidences where a particular substance or food source has been trashed by regulatory bodies and agencies at the insistence of lobbying local food-producing factions in the States ( and elsewhere).

Pesticide sprays?......everything we consume from the fruit and veg section of the the supermarket is drenched in longevity agents and bug repellants.

If you're not peeling and skinning every fruit you eat, you're loading up on toxins.


Join your local CSA farm. We don't eat anything non-USDA certified organic including eggs, milk, and cheese.

In the past there have been incidences where a particular substance or food source has been trashed by regulatory bodies and agencies at the insistence of lobbying local food-producing factions in the States ( and elsewhere).

But if you look at "mainstream" dietary advice, I don't think soy is trashed at all. It gets a bad rap in weight lifting circles but as for the general population? Not so much. Saturated fats and red meat have a much worse reputation than soy, methinks.