Tofu Bad for Men?

AHealthyVegan · **Posted:** Fri Dec 04, 2009 8:54 pm

Hey everybody,

My wife and I just got back from out first time with a personal trainer, we are looking to get fit. When we mentioned that we were Vegan and ate Tofu. He was very against tofu saying that it is not good for men and can mess up one's thyroid and that it is mostly made of Genetically Modified Soybeans. I know I have read an article in Veg News about this.

I know it is best to have a varied diet, but I don't want our personal trainer to have a bad opinion of Tofu, I like him as a trainer.

Any ideas on what I should tell him or articles I could send him.

Thanks,
Tom Scholfield
http://www.AHealthyVegan.com
http://twitter.com/AHealthyVegan

xjohanx · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 3:45 am

Your personal trainer obviously does not know much about nutrition so I would either find a new one (allthough I doubt it's easy to find one that's good) or just say that you will fix your diet yourself and let him take care of your work out regimen. Your PT probably read some BS article in some BS magazine and thinks he knows the truth. You can probably find a lot of PTs that read the exact opposite (that soy is a "super-food" etc etc) in another BS article in another BS magazine (or possibly the same magazine cause they tend to be turncoats).
Tofu and soy isn't bad, it's probably very healthy in normal amounts. It is important to get enough iodine when eating a lot of legumes and other plants and if you do there really is nothing to worry about. There is a lot of threads on the forum regarding soy and estrogen/testosterone, thyroid issues etc. Use the search function and you will find a bunch of links to actually science based opinions.

Marcina · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 4:35 am

Nod and smile and eat tofu anyways.

Basically, I agree with everything Johan just said.

AHealthyVegan · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 8:13 am

When I asked him where he had read this information about Tofu he chuckled and said it was just common knowledge about soy and tofu. We really liked him as a trainer and we really need to get into shape and he is the cheapest around, only $60 for 2 people for a hour.

But, I was disappointed in his opinion of Tofu, so I should just forget about it and focus on the workouts?

What kind of foods have iodine?

chrisjs · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 9:37 am

Common knowledge is the worst type.

damdaman · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 11:21 am

Soy is only a problem for your thyroid if you have an existing thyroid problem, in which case it MAY make it worse. It will not harm healthy thyroids. As for estrogen in soy, I don't believe a there's ever been a single study that showed that people who eat soy regularly have lower testosterone.

Stick to reasonable amounts of tofu and you'll be fine.

Like others said, this topic has been covered many times in the "Health/Nutrition Programs" part of this site... http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=6

chewybaws · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 1:54 pm

Marcina wrote:

Nod and smile and eat tofu anyways.

Basically, I agree with everything Johan just said.

+1

AHealthyVegan · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 6:22 pm

Sorry for a starting a new topic on something that has been covered extensively, after our training I came home and did a quick search and did not find anything, I really appreciate all of the great responses so far.

Thanks so much.

Peace to the Geese,
Tom Scholfield
http://www.AHealthyVegan.com
http://twitter.com/AHealthyVegan

Marcina · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 10:09 pm

AHealthyVegan wrote:

Sorry for a starting a new topic on something that has been covered extensively, after our training I came home and did a quick search and did not find anything, I really appreciate all of the great responses so far.

Thanks so much.

Peace to the Geese,
Tom Scholfield
http://www.AHealthyVegan.com
http://twitter.com/AHealthyVegan

That's because your trainer is full of it.

If he's a good trainer, that's fine.. But leave the nutrition to somebody who doesn't read crap in crap magazines and dumb websites (which is probably where he got the info from but is too embarrassed to say)

After all, most of us on this website have accomplished a lot by eating tofu. You can see the results by looking at the profiles on this website. Point 1 for vegans!

AHealthyVegan · **Posted:** Sat Dec 05, 2009 10:55 pm

Yay Vegans!

beforewisdom · **Joined:** Sat Nov 24, 2007 6:44 pm **Posts:** 3508

You can buy tofu made from organic soy beans. If a food is labeled as organic, by law it can not be GMO.

There is a lot of big business threatened by soy, also a big business. There is a lot of intentional misinformation out there and with a few notable exceptions personal trainers in gyms tend not to be scholars.

When I come across an article that seems fair to soy, which is rare, but becoming less so, I post it to a dedicated category on my blog just for this kind of situation.

If you read a few of the articles there you should feel more relaxed:
http://beforewisdom.com/blog/?cat=23

AHealthyVegan · **Posted:** Sun Dec 06, 2009 8:03 am

Thanks beforewisdom, there is a lot of really fantastic information on your blog, thanks fr sharing!

LloydMetcalfe · **Posted:** Mon Dec 07, 2009 6:21 am

I use to avoid soy because i read about it being estrogenic.I even went as far as telling Mac Danzig not to eat it but he told me that was bs and seeing him fight or at the weigh-ins you see all the evidence you need because he is ripped as they come.For $60 an hour you could get Mac himself to train you.

VeganEssentials · **Posted:** Sat Dec 19, 2009 1:59 am

LloydMetcalfe wrote:

I use to avoid soy because i read about it being estrogenic.

If it were a fraction as estrogenic as the "sources" claim, I'd have man-boobs down to my belly button and would be sobbing to Lifetime movies all day long. The people spreading that sort of info are probably the same who would have fallen for lines like "Smoking is good for you" back about 50 years ago when some people actually thought it was true. :wink:

There's more misinformation out there than there are facts. Soy gets blasted way too often, but I'll always side with FallenHorse's sentiment - eat it in moderation and you won't have any concerns!

Vegan Joe · **Posted:** Sat Dec 19, 2009 11:30 am

VeganEssentials wrote:

"Smoking is good for you" back about 50 years ago when some people actually thought it was true. :wink:

Yeah kids of today are lucky.

Well it has to have some effect. To think it doesn't is: head in sand attitude. There are alot of foods that fit into this catagory sweet potatoes, and eggplants are two, and there ain't nothing or nobody gonna keep me from my eggplant bean curd over rice plate.
I suppose what is more important is his attitude about vegans in general.

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Tofu Bad for Men?

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