Is THIS trendy food causing British men to have LESS testosterone than their grandfathers?

Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and a steroid – which causes typical male characteristics such as increased muscle strength and mass, broad shoulders and a deep voice.

However, accord to science the amount of testosterone in modern men is lower than in previous generations.

Men are producing low-quality sperm today in comparison to the man of the 1970s. 

The volume of the sperm produced is down from 3.40 ml to 2.75 ml, and the number of gametes within the semen is also down significantly. 

However, one food product could be causing modern men’s testosterone levels to drop even lower – especially considering its popularity as a health food.

Soy has been found by some scientists to cause a decrease in testosterone and sperm count.

In a Harvard study published in 2008 in the journal Human Reproduction, Jorge E. Chavarro, M.D., Sc.D. found soy intake lowered sperm count.

In the paper “Soy food and isoflavone intake in relation to semen quality parameters among men from an infertility clinic” they found “men in the highest category of soy food intake had 41 million sperm/ml less than men who did not consume soy foods”.

The motility and shape of the sperm, as well as the volume of the ejaculate, did not change – but the number of gametes was reduced.

This is bad news for men who enjoy a lot of soy.

Many health conscious dieters have embraced soy, although they may not know all there is to know about what the bean derivative can do to your body.

According to annual US consumer attitude survey 85 per cent of people rated soy products as “healthy.”

However, this effect of soy is not 100 per cent confirmed by the scientific community.

A study titled “Hormonal effects of soy in premenopausal women and men” carried out in 2002 was less confident about the link.

The scientists at the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, said: “Over the past few years, there has been increasing interest in the possible hormonal effects of soy and soy isoflavone consumption in both women and men.

“These recent studies in men consuming soyfoods or supplements containing 40-70 mg/d of soy isoflavones showed few effects on plasma hormones or semen quality. 

“These data do not support concerns about effects on reproductive hormones and semen quality.”