soy and fertility

TPmom · December 2008

i'm not sure if this has been talked about on here - but my acupuncturist forwarded me an article on how eating soy can decrease a woman's fertility. the article is below.

i also found a study that came out over the summer claiming that eating soy can decrease sperm count as well.

I'm not sure how accurate these claims are, but i thought best to pass it along just in case.

Eating Soy Can Decrease Your Fertility

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.

What's more, researchers explain avoiding soy around a woman's more fertile days of the month might actually aid conception.

Genistein can be found in all soy-containing products, including:

Soy milk
Many vegetarian foods
Some pre-packed meals and pizzas

Running Tests

Researchers tested what happened to human sperm when it was exposed to genistein in a dish in the laboratory: The soy chemical was found to create a premature reaction in the sperm, forcing them to peak long before they could fertilize an egg.

In real life, this does not usually occur until the sperm have been inside the female for some hours and are close to completing their long swim toward the egg. Without the presence of genistein around a woman's womb, sperm would peak as they should--far closer to completing their journey to the egg.

Moreover, what was surprising and telling about soy's harmful effects on human health was that it took smaller doses of genistein to create infertility problems in human females than in mice.

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

staycee · December 2008

^ I didn't read that yet (will after I post), but FWIW, the first thing my RE directed me when starting treatments was to stay away from all soy.

I missed my edamame!

lumbride · December 2008

I have heard that soy is bad for fertility as well - bummer, b/c I used to eat a lot of soy products! Thanks for sharing the article.

babygirlpriest · December 2008

Hmm - interesting. That's ok, I'm a bad vegetarian anyway.

nikinikinine · December 2008

MH read something about this in men's journal and switched up his protein powder and stopped drinking soy milk. Who knows if that helps. But from what we've read soy is supposed to have a really bad effect on sperm motility.

mamabear7 · December 2008

I've heard that too.

AmyfromMI · December 2008

Interesting, thanks for the info.

2006july15bride · December 2008

Thank you for posting this. I had heard about soy and sperm motility, but only from the perspective of the male eating it. I am a vegetarian and live on soy products (just had a Boca burger in my pasta tonight and prepared another one for lunch tomorrow). We have been ttc for 7 cycles now. Maybe this is our problem.