Читать книгу Why Men Don’t Iron: The New Reality of Gender Differences - Anne Moir - Страница 17

Soya is the richest source of oestrogen (a feminizing hormone) in today’s diet, and oestrogen and similar substances are known to cause reproductive tract disorders in men. ‘Soya is the richest source of phytoestrogens and its consumption, especially as a substitute for meat protein, has increased enormously in the past two or more decades.’⁷³ Many men eat soya products without even knowing it (unless they read the small print on the package label) because it is used as a supplement in many pre-packaged goods. The can might be labelled ‘stew’, but some of the ‘meat’ will probably be soya. It is difficult, in fact, to escape this ubiquitous product. Soya beans, soya oil and soya derivatives are used in some 30,000 food products, including confectionery and margarine.⁷⁴ Crushed soya beans are used in 60 per cent of all processed foods⁷⁵ and are found in six out of ten products on the food shelves of our supermarkets.⁷⁶

Yet Britain’s leading sperm expert, Richard Sharpe, eschews soya products. ‘I try to avoid buying anything with soya in it for my children,’ he says.⁷⁷ The sperm decline in the modern male is undoubtedly linked to other factors. For example, at one time cattle were fed growth hormones that resulted in more oestrogen in the food supply. No one will know, says Sharpe, just how much oestrogen was circulating in the women of the 1950s who gave birth to today’s generation of men with low sperm counts.

British bakers plan to manufacture loaves with soya flour, rich with plant oestrogens,⁷⁸ to be marketed to menopausal women. Four slices are said to provide a natural alternative to hormone replacement therapy. Food scientists are concerned that it might not be safe for men to eat this soya-rich bread. The pure soya flour is meant for menopausal women, but it is already almost impossible in Britain to find a supermarket loaf without soya flour added to it.

At least some people recognize that soya is a food better suited to women than to men. In Australia the ‘Sheila’s Bread’ which is to be introduced into Britain, is claimed to put the waltz back into Matilda.⁷⁹ The essential ingredients of Sheila’s Bread are soya flour and linseed oil, both rich in oestrogen, but maybe younger Sheilas should be wary: too much oestrogen in young women can inflict undescended testicles on their sons. Whichever way it is absorbed, oestrogen won’t put the waltz back into Sheila’s menfolk.

‘But if soya feminizes the male –’ says Bill.

‘Perhaps that’s why there’s so little protest from some of the women’s groups.’

‘But these soya oestrogens are carcinogens, too.’

‘Indeed,’ says Anne. ‘You know, the Food and Drugs Administration in America has already banned many carcinogens that are a lot less potent than these. If it weren’t natural I’m sure soyas would have been banned as well.’

So far we have listed various factors that affect diet, and have tried to point out where they have a different impact on men than on women. Some readers may feel that, despite the undoubted importance of zinc and iron, our concerns are still peripheral. After all, we have not mentioned the real villains of the piece. We might claim that red meat is a superb source of protein and micro-nutrients, and so it is, but how can one talk about red meat without mentioning the dread subjects of cholesterol and fat? A man might struggle to get enough zinc in his diet, but too much cholesterol and too much fat will just plain kill him. Won’t they?

It is time to deal with the real villains, and they deserve a chapter to themselves.

SUMMARY

 Men lose weight when they exercise – women don’t.

 Men, taking the weight difference into account, burn 10% more energy than women. They need more calories weight for weight than women do.

 Men have more muscle and turn over body protein faster, so need more protein than women do.

 Men need 45% more zinc, and meat, especially red meat, is the best source of this crucial mineral.

 Men, without knowing it, are being fed a diet high in female hormones. The ubiquitous addition of soya to food may be literally feminizing them.

FUTURE TRENDS

 He is missing out on crucial minerals – we are cutting out just what he needs to operate at high energy. The meatless male is the lethargic male.

 Future long distant space travel has all-female crews, as the only astronauts who can bear the NASA space diet of soya nuts, tofu cheesecake, salad and pasta everywhere. ‘A familiar, attractive and tasty diet,’ says a NASA researcher.80

DESIRABLE AIMS

 It is time to take his needs into account – a healthy diet is none too healthy for him.

 It is time to take female hormones out of our food. Soya products are added because they are cheap. Wouldn’t it be better to pay the price for oestrogen-free food?

 Hamburger medium rare, lite on the gamma rays. Irradiated foods such as burger meat are a fair step to getting rid of nasty bacteria – as long as the consumer is told that the food has been zapped.