So No Soy

So there's that new study out about soy and fertility. Apparently eating just one serving of soy every 2 days lowers a mans sperm count. Here's just one of the many recent articles out there.

Hmm, so I did some reading about that. Not that we eat that much soy. We occasionally have tofu, sometimes a veggie burger (made with soy), and it probably sneaks into other foods we eat, but hubby doesn't eat soy products like yogurt, milk or edamame. I definitely eat more than he does, which made me want to find out about women's fertility and soy. I know there have been studies saying that too much soy is not good for women either, (something about estrogen). I don't think I eat that much soy. I occasionally incorporate it into our diets for a protein source, but I don't go nutty with it. Although I have been eating soy yogurt, which I've really grown to like.

So my findings...not so good. I read lots of articles that said this...

"Women who are trying to conceive may want to heed the following: Avoid eating too much soy. According to a study involving humans, a compound found in soy known as genistein has been found to impair sperm as they swim toward the egg. Even tiny doses of the compound in the female tract could destroy sperm. Genistein can be found in all soy-containing products.

Researchers further explained that avoiding soy around a woman's more fertile days of the month might actually aid conception.

Based on the findings, a spokeswoman for the Vegetarian Society said that for anyone trying to become pregnant, avoiding soy products for a few days a month is worth a try ... even if there is a slim chance it will aid in fertility. [BBC News June 21, 2005]"

OK. So no more soy. I won't be eating even trace amounts of soy near ovulation. Not that I think that will help me get pregnant, but it's worth a try.