soya not good for fertilization

Have you ever heard of this? Look under "soya warning for would be mothers"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?view=HOME&grid=P13&menuId=-1&menuItemId=-1&_requestid=317304

I have been drinking Soya but i got pregnant...But better to stay away next time if research shows it prevents conception...

You know, I am Japanese, and staying away from tofu and green tea is quite hard!!!haha. But I knew about green tea. It is so hard to do everything right, isn't it? Good luck everyone.

Here is the article:


Women urged to avoid soya if they want a baby

By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent in Copenhagen

(Filed: 22/06/2005)


Consuming soya sauce or milk could reduce a woman's fertility, according to the results of research to be unveiled today.


Genistein, a chemical in soya beans, was found to sabotage the ability of sperm to bind to and fertilise eggs.


Human sperm were more than three times more likely to lose their acrosomes - caps that enable them to penetrate eggs - within an hour when placed in contact with tiny doses of genistein in tests.


Prof Lynn Fraser, professor of Reproductive Biology at King's College London, advised women trying to get pregnant to cut down on products such as tofu and other soya-based products during the most fertile part of their menstrual cycle.


Asked whether she would eat soya products if she was trying to become pregnant, Prof Fraser said: "Knowing what I know, I probably wouldn't.


"On the basis of what we have seen it might be pragmatic if you are in the habit of eating lots of soya-based products to restrict your diet for a short time during the window of ovulation.


"These results could have important negative implications for human fertility. We found genistein stimulated the sperm to undergo an acrosome reaction.


"If the acrosome reaction occurs before a sperm reaches an egg, then fertilisation is unable to take place before the sperm has lost special 'docking' molecules that allow it to bind to the egg."


Acrosome reaction is when the sperm sheds a membrane that surrounds its head, exposing receptors that help with penetration of an egg. It normally takes place within the female reproductive organ, however if it takes place too soon, the sperm's ability to fertilise an egg "burns out" rapidly.


Three years ago Prof Fraser published research showing that genistein, as well as other chemicals found in beer, paints and pesticides, had the same effect on mouse sperm, especially in combination.


She was later surprised to find that concentrations of the soya chemical 100 times lower had an equivalent effect on human sperm.


Prof Fraser, who will reveal the results of her research at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Copenhagen today, added: "I expected human sperm to respond but I was surprised to find it appeared to be more sensitive."

It is interesting. Tofu is known to contain small quantities of naturally occuring Estrogens, in fact some authorities have recommended it for menopausal problems. That these estrogens have a depressive effect on ovulation, sperm transportation and cervical mucus production is an intriguing thought.

The other thought is that women anxious NOT to convieve might increase their consumption of soy, not as a primary but as an added method.

Yeah, I will probably start eating as much tofu and soya as I'd like after I gave a birth to 8 children...Seems like a long way to go!

MM 8 children wow thats impressive!

more info:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2005/06/23/hsoya23.xml

Is just one teabag of green tea going to have any effect?