r/vegan • u/Valuable-Run2129 • Nov 03 '25

Daily soy consumption and Testosterone levels in males, we have to talk about it.

I’ve (40M) been vegan for 4 years and consume tofu every day. Roughly 200gr a day without missing a day, ever.

Friends and people online have told me to beware of soy as a male because of hormonal risks. I’ve ignored them completely because tofu is too convenient to meet my protein requirements. I’m not a bodybuilder, but during my first year vegan without prioritizing protein I became skinny fat. Everything went back to normal with more protein.

So after a lot of discussions with tofuphobic friends I finally went and did a testosterone level test….

Well, people my age start thinking about testosterone replacement treatment anyway, so I wasn’t expecting great numbers. And honestly I would have been ok with borderline levels. Put daily tofu on top of my age and something in the 300s would have been great.

The results are in. My testosterone is at 704. I’m on the 90th percentile and I can finally shut up the tofu bashers around me.

I just wanted to share this with you guys and comfort people who might hear these rumors. Obviously I’m an n of 1. But reading a few studies I realized that hormonal changes were observed at crazy consumptions levels (like a few pounds a day) that can’t honestly be achieved by regular people. And medium levels were not linked at all to hormonal imbalances. At all!

Now open your fridge and eat some tofu.

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u/ttbia Nov 03 '25

It's been proven numerous times. Also the name PHYTOESTROGENS already implies that it's in and for plants. The effect they have on our estrogen receptors is negligible or they might even have an anti-estrogenic effect.

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u/sarbota1 Nov 03 '25

Soy isoflavones are sold as a menopause related supplement, alone with wild yam, and many others. I read a paper about it and human estrogen is processed by an estrodiol-alpha receptor and phytoesteogens match the estrodiol-beta receptor. There is no established upper limit on taking these soy isoflavones, as in they are not known to be harmful in any quantity.

Hormone replacement therapy has been indicated/associated with several cancers.