Click here to read about some of the people we've helped.  We're here to help you, too. Get four essential health reports when you join our e-news community.

FREE REPORT. Your key pointers to a life-transforming diet

Find out the best diet for you in one of four free reports we'll give you when you join the WDDTY community. We'll also send you up-to-the-moment health news and advice twice a week, packed full of insights that may well transform your own health.

First Name:Email:


Infertility: Soy reduces sperm quality

Soy food and isoflavones, a hormone derived from soy products, can make men infertile, a new study has discovered.

Previous studies had found a correlation between soy and male fertility in animal research, but researchers from Harvard School of Public Health have finally confirmed the same thing is happening in humans.

They monitored the diets of 99 males who were attending the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center. Over a three-month period, the men ate 15 soy-based foods and their semen quality was assessed.

The researchers found an inverse association between the amount of soy food and isoflavones consumed and the quality of the men’s sperm; in other words, the men who ate the most soy had the lowest sperm quality, and this remained true even after allowing for weight, smoking, alcohol and caffeine consumption.

(Source: Human Reproduction, 2008; published online, July 23; doi: 10.1093/humrep/den243).


WDDTY Blog Speak

Semen quality affects chances of conception - Male fertility may be more complex than previously imagined. The combination of motility and semen volume traditional measurements of semen quality ar...

Soy products lower fats - Scientists have emphasized what most vegetarians have known for ages soy products will give you lower cholesterol levels than will animal protein. ...

Infertility - Q:We are facing the prospect of having to undergo investigations in an attempt to determine the cause of our infertility. We have been trying to have...

Health Advice - Visit our sub sites on How you beat asthma...

Vegetarian diets - Is avoiding meat good for everyone? - Many of us believe that vegetarianism gives us the healthiest diet. ...

Drugs and male infertility - We know very little about the effects of man commonly used drugs on fertility. In most countries the testing of drugs includes toxicity studies of the...

Infertility drugs - The cancer risks - Fertility drugs, which are now handed out like candy, can treble your cancer risks, yet may not work as well as a simple supplement programme. ...

Soy: is it cancer on a plate? - The received wisdom is that soy is a superfood. Indeed, one soy manufacturer recently filed a petition with the US government asking permission to mak...