# Now ToFu is bad too. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 9, 2005, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802 "2005-09-09T12:30:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/1 "2005-09-09T12:30:07Z")
Excerpt from [Tofu: Can It Make A Man Sterile?](http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/8/prweb277159.htm) > [@](#): > > A plant chemical found in tofu and other soy products could potentially damage sperm and have a negative effect on male fertility. In laboratory tests, it was found that small amounts of genistein can cause human sperm to get “burnt out” and lose fertility. Women who also eat soya and other foods high in genistein (tofu) also negatively influence their partner’s fertility because once it is inside the female the chemical can indirectly cause damage to sperm ready to fertilize an egg. With so many trying fad diets and changing their lifestyles, more people are eating tofu than ever before. Tofu is one of the more popular healthy foods, because it is versatile and can be cooked many different ways. I heard this on the radio on the commute in. It just made me laugh and shake my head. Remember, “Being born is the leading cause of death.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/2 "2005-09-09T13:28:34Z")
YEAH! I’m loadin’ up on tofu! Low in saturated fat, a complete protein, chock full of iron and calcium, _and it’ll help prevent pregnancy_? [awed tones]Truly, tofu _is_ nature’s perfect food.[/awed tones] Where’s my husband? I need to let him know that we’re never eating meat again . . . ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/3 "2005-09-09T13:33:36Z")
Sounds good to me, and I love the stuff. I also never ever want to get pregnant, so anything that can help prevent that is fine by me. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/4 "2005-09-09T13:34:56Z")
Ditto! More tofu…more! It could solve multiple problems it seems. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/5 "2005-09-09T13:45:43Z")
ya think this works? -China Guy, decades long tofu eater, father of twins ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/6 "2005-09-09T13:55:34Z")
Ah-HAH! I just _knew_ there was something suspicious about that crap… ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/7 "2005-09-09T14:19:29Z")
Well, that means in a generation or so there won’t be any more vegetarians. Right? Because we all know that all those people in China that eat tofu regularly aren’t having any kids. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/8 "2005-09-09T14:59:58Z")
Evidently, over a billion Chinese _can_ be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/9 "2005-09-09T15:02:22Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Evidently, over a billion Chinese _can_ be wrong. \ Excellent! It occurs to me the OP thought most of us would think it was a \*bad \* thing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/10 "2005-09-09T16:13:03Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > \ Excellent! > It occurs to me the OP thought most of us would think it was a \*bad \* thing. 🙂 Not really, I was really commenting on the fact that everything we eat and everything we do is somehow bad for us according to someone. And BTW “Think of the Children” I don’t take these medical reports serious any more & I am glad no one here seems to. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/11 "2005-09-09T17:46:36Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Evidently, over a billion Chinese _can_ be wrong. Ancient Chinese secret… I heard this a while ago. I like tofu, but I don’t eat it THAT often. I guess if I was married, ready for kids, trying to have them, was failing, and was told by a doctor that tofu was the problem, I’d switch to gluten or seitan (Hail Seitan!) or whatever for the time being. Doesn’t strike me as a big deal in the short term. And that’s assuming they don’t find a way to make tofu without that particular chemical in it some time in the future. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/12 "2005-09-09T18:31:29Z")
> [@jrfranchi](#): > > I don’t take these medical reports serious any more & I am glad no one here seems to. 😃 I’m not sure. I suspect that most of the women who’ve been posting about going onto tofu heavy diets are about as serious as they are mugging for laughs. For example. I find the report to be completely believable. I don’t really doubt the idea that there could be something in tofu that can reduce male fertility - but as **China Guy** proves, fertility is one of those things that’s affected by so many factors, I doubt that there’s any one one thing that will make everyone fertile or infertile. I don’t really care. **If** I had a partner with whom I wanted children **and** we hadn’t yet been able to concieve, I’d be tempted to remove tofu from my diet, but that’s the extent of it. As it is, I’m more worried about whether _they_ are using orbital mind control lasers than I am about my fertility. (I am reminded of the experiments done with victims at the Nazi extermination camps. AIUI, one of the series of experiments they did was to determine what dose of radiation would be effective for non-surgical sterilization. The conclusion was that in order to ensure sterility the dose required was so high it was in the realm of the LD50 dose - which negated the goal of a non-surigical sterilization method that could be used without the target being aware of it. Fertility is powerful stuff.) ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/13 "2005-09-09T18:38:41Z")
> [@jrfranchi](#): > > I don’t take these medical reports serious any more & I am glad no one here seems to. 😃 I’m not sure. I suspect that most of the women who’ve been posting about going onto tofu heavy diets are about as serious as they are mugging for laughs. For example. I find the report to be completely believable. I don’t really doubt the idea that there could be something in tofu that can reduce male fertility - but as **China Guy** proves, fertility is one of those things that’s affected by so many factors, I doubt that there’s any one one thing that will make everyone fertile or infertile. I don’t really care. **If** I had a partner with whom I wanted children **and** we hadn’t yet been able to concieve, I’d be tempted to remove tofu from my diet, but that’s the extent of it. As it is, I’m more worried about whether _they_ are using orbital mind control lasers than I am about my fertility. (I am reminded of the experiments done with victims at the Nazi extermination camps. AIUI, one of the series of experiments they did was to determine what dose of radiation would be effective for non-surgical sterilization. The conclusion was that in order to ensure sterility the dose required was so high it was in the realm of the LD50 dose - which negated the goal of a non-surigical sterilization method that could be used without the target being aware of it. Fertility is powerful stuff.) ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/14 "2005-09-09T18:39:51Z")
Sorry about the double post. 8-( ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/15 "2005-09-09T18:58:15Z")
> [@jrfranchi](#): > > [Tofu: Can It Make A Man Sterile?](http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/8/prweb277159.htm) I’d take anything from prweb with a grain of salt. That’s the same site that claimed to have a press release saying John Basedow died in the typhoon and, IIRC, also the one that claimed Andy Kaufman wasn’t really dead. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/16 "2005-09-09T19:04:58Z")
Hey, these things cut both ways. For instance, the sodium nitrite in hot dogs that I grew believing was carcinogenic is now – surprise, surprise – theorized to protect against heart damage, and is proposed as a therapy for all kinds of things. A [cite](http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.nitrite06sep06,1,1916983.story?ctrack=1&cset=true) for the unbelieving. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/17 "2005-09-09T19:19:04Z")
I don’t think I’d credit [the people who put out this press release](http://www.amberoz.com/) with having a grip on much of anything except people’s fear and insecurity. Good marketing strategy, if you’re selling “phyto-pharmaceutical” fertility products – most of your target audience is probably already eating soy – claiming soy inhibits fertility is a good way to attract the attention of people who might go for an herbal remedy _and_ are concerned about fertility. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/18 "2005-09-09T19:26:22Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > I’d take anything from prweb with a grain of salt. That’s the same site that claimed to have a press release saying John Basedow died in the typhoon and, IIRC, also the one that claimed Andy Kaufman wasn’t really dead. I know, but I heard it seperately on Wcbs 880 on the way in and their source was from a medical group. I think the report is real, I just can’t take these very seriously anymore. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/19 "2005-09-09T21:43:54Z")
I don’t think anybody here took it seriously. Yum, tofu! It’s not like I need a reason to eat it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802/20 "2005-09-09T23:33:53Z")
I find it hilarious considering how many “health food” shops carry genistein as a food supplement!! :wally :wally :wally [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-tofu-is-bad-too/320802.md?page=2)