I finally clicked on the link.

[velvetpage]

That article about soy being full of estrogen, and soy formula being responsible for homosexuality - um, wow. That guy is off his rocker. He tipped it so far that it fell over and shattered in a million pieces, at least a few of which are clearly lodged in his ass. Wow.

The first rebuttal that comes to mind: Asian cultures have always used a lot of soy, though it's fairly recent in North America. So why is it that Asian cultures have about the same rate of homosexuality as Western ones?

And I shudder to think what someone with little scientific knowledge and a serious thing for breastfeeding could do with this piece of misinformation. "Formula will make your son gay! On noes!!!111!!!!"

I don't have time for more.

Comments

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

That link was forwarded on one of the bi lists I'm on. You might find my response interesting...
We actually talked a little bit about this at some of the science programming at 9ICB.

It is true that soy can cause problems, at least for the baby of a pregnant women. I'm not aware of it causing problems for everyone else. Furthermore, it isn't so simple a relationship as the more soy
you have, the worse off you are. Apparently, it's a U relationship.

If you have very little soy, or tons of soy, it could have effects on the child you are bearing, and the child could be born intersexed. The big problem there is that most forms of intersexuality are associated with health problems -- some of them quite severe.

The thing about this that makes me nervous is ... what constitutes a little? A lot? If I were going to be pregnant, I would want to look at how the study defined those numbers, so I could make sure I was
either having NO soy, or in the middle zone.

Anyway, as ridiculous as that article is (and scientifically inaccurate, big surprise there), there is some basis in fact there.

What's that saying? A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

[freifraufischer.livejournal.com]

Oh, oh, does that mean that the Penguin in Happy Feet was fed formula?

[urban-homestead.livejournal.com]

Aside from his wacky ideas about homosexuality, which I'm not going to dignify with a response, he is right about soy being full of phytoestrogens and the fact that nutritionists are very mixed on what all that estrogen is doing to us. You might be interested to pursue it further. The "Asians eat a lot of soy" story is largely a myth of American vegetarians. Unfermented soy is eaten regularly, but only in tiny quantities, in most Asian cultures.

[urban-homestead.livejournal.com]

Here is one link (http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20020825/ai_n12577802) but you can find lots by googling "soy danger", and, try "neuroepidemiology soy" if I remember correctly". I used to have a whole folder of links pre-hard-drive crash. I'm allergic to soy so the growing trend to dump soy proteins and oils into everything is very scary to me.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Um, that last was me. *flogs self with wet noodle to remember to log in*

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

I'll happly dignify his wacky ideas about homosexuality with an answer.

There's a lot of research on this. Application of hormones of any time AFTER birth, does not affect sexuality. Just look at transwomen. Their sexuality stays the same, but they grow tits. There have also been lots of experiements and studies on both animals and humans which show that post-birth hormones will have no effect on sexual orientation or gender identity.

So, too much soy could cause men to grow tits and maybe get a little moody. But that's about it. Given that we don't see a lot of male vegetarians wandering around with breasts, I'm guessing that the dosages in soy products are not high enough to cause even this to happen.

[girlydoll.livejournal.com]

I never drank soy milk, so if I start will my boobs get bigger??

LOL, I just had to ask,,, so sorry.

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

Heh. Nope.

[(Anonymous)]

I didn't know the bit about Asians and soy. Thanks. I'll be watching for new developments in this regard. I never ate a lot of soy - in fact, unless it's in the processed products I buy, I eat almost none.

Hmm. I just checked the wrapper of the chocolate I was eating, and there it is: soy lecithin. Whaddya know.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

Breastfeeding, however, leads to a child with too much testosterone and a livelong yearning for meals taken at Hooters.

(Kidding. And as someone who until recently had too much testosterone I assure you I have never set foot in, nor have any desire to go into, a Hooters.)

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

That made me laugh. Thanks. :)

[rallymama.livejournal.com]

Wow, yet another argument for moderation in all things dietary, and for minimizing consumption of highly-processed foods to the extent possible.

As for his attitudes about homosexuality... why must some people feel so threatened by things that don't concern them in the slightest? Sad.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

That's my thought exactly.

[redeem147.livejournal.com]

Amen.

[firesign10.livejournal.com]

That guy is off his rocker. He tipped it so far that it fell over and shattered in a million pieces, at least a few of which are clearly lodged in his ass.

That was just such as funny and beautifully crafted statement that I had to comment to tell you so!!! ROTFL!!

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I rather liked it myself. :)

Crazy people everywhere unite to form the Intarwebs!

[neosis.livejournal.com]

It's the internet, you'll find it full of people who believe that the earth is flat, that the rapture is coming... tomorrow, that doctors are a cabal of death dealing voodoo con artists, and that libertarianism will solve all of society's problems.

Most of the time, the biggest problem with stuff on the internet is that the only way to tell if someone is crazy is to look closely at what they write.

And yes, I've had other LiveJournal users tell me both of the latter examples are absolutely true.

Re: Crazy people everywhere unite to form the Intarwebs!

[freifraufischer.livejournal.com]

They'll argue the bit about libertarianism in university classes too... I have started to wonder if there is some brand of extreme libertarian koolaid going around.