Ipriflavone, a soy isoflavone derivative, has been shown to improve bone density in people with osteoporosis. Additionally, men with confirmed testosterone deficiency syndrome may benefit from medical interventions such as testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). Our team of licensed nutritionists and dietitians strive to be objective, unbiased, honest and to present both sides of the argument. Put simply, most of the evidence indicates that isoflavones do not adversely affect men’s fertility. Additionally, one study showed that taking 40 milligrams of isoflavone supplements per day for two months did not impair men’s semen quality or volume (35).
Getting less than 7 hours of sleep regularly can drop your testosterone by 10–15%. This might explain why some men report feeling sensitive to these foods while others don't notice a thing. If you're downing multiple protein shakes with soy isolate every day or drinking liters of soy milk daily for months, you might be getting amounts far beyond what any research has tested. You need it to maintain bone density, cognitive function, cardiovascular health, and even sexual function. The concentration of these compounds varies based on growing conditions, processing methods, and food preparation techniques. These compounds exist in varying concentrations in many different plants. Whereas no significant changes in thyroid function were observed, a decrease of free-T3 was found in healthy young females.
Estrogen levels rise and fall throughout your life, often in sync with other hormones that control important body processes, like your menstrual cycle. A review of eight randomized controlled trials examined the effects of soy in men with or at risk of developing prostate cancer. Soy isoflavones, specifically genistein and daidzein, are incorporated in prostate tissue and may act as weak estrogens and inhibit the development of prostate cancer.
Understanding this distinction is crucial for evaluating soy’s potential health effects. However, these isoflavones are not estrogen, and they don’t undergo a direct conversion within the body. It stems from the fact that soy contains isoflavones, which have a chemical structure similar to estrogen. No, soy does not directly convert to estrogen in the human body. In addition, they created a comprehensive database from thousands of scientific studies on how different substances interact with hormones. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and validate integrated, high throughput testing strategies to detect substances that could disrupt endocrine functions by interacting with the hormones estrogen and androgen. This work began with studies on the endocrine-disrupting effects of the drug diethylstilbestrol (DES).
People on any medications should always discuss with a doctor before taking phytoestrogens as a supplement. More research is necessary to fully understand how phytoestrogens work. Another concern about phytoestrogens is the impact they may have on fertility in males. A 2021 study involving 147 infants compared the effects of soy formula to cow’s milk formula and breastfeeding. Studies demonstrating this effect have used high doses of phytoestrogens in rats or other animals.
More research is necessary to understand if phytoestrogens have any sex-specific effects for males. However, researchers conducting a 2020 review concluded that the research to date shows no effect of phytoestrogens on semen quality or infertility risk. The researchers found no evidence that either soy or isoflavones affected testosterone or estrogen levels in males. Additionally, phytoestrogens may not be appropriate for all types of cancer.
Low estrogen levels are a signal for the hypothalamus to release GnRH, whereas high levels provide a negative feedback . Phytoestrogens could disrupt the endocrine system by interfering with the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis, which controls estrogen secretion. The effects of isoflavones, which have a five-fold greater affinity for β-ER than α-ER , on the endocrine system may be through modulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis . The highest soy-derived isoflavone intakes worldwide are still in China and Japan, where the population consumes an average of 15–50 mg per day, compared to only about 2 mg per day in Western countries 4,5. The main dietary source of these plant secondary metabolites is legumes (particularly soy), and to a lesser extent fruits, vegetables, and cereals .
A cross-sectional study in children aged 8–15 years in an iodine-deficient region of the Czech Republic did not obtain conclusive results. Et al. only in normal-weight postmenopausal women consuming pomegranate for 3 weeks 111,113. However, other clinical studies did find that isoflavone administration produced significant changes in E2 96,97 or progesterone concentrations .

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