For what it's worth, the finding in TFA doesn't seem to have held up: "Clinical studies show no effects of soy protein or isoflavones on reproductive hormones in men: results of a meta-analysis"[1].<p>[1] <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0015028209009662" rel="nofollow">https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001502820...</a>
study conducted in 2005; n=35; p-values vary based on measurements; study conclusion is "[...] soy protein, regardless of isoflavone content, decreased DHT and DHT/testosterone with minor effects on other hormones, providing evidence for some effects of soy protein on hormones."; further study on larger/more diverse populations required.<p>Read study entirely and in context before judging effect size based on study alone but the data indicates further study is worth pursuing.
On one hand: YAY SCIENCE AND DATA!<p>On the other hand: Ahhhh, figs.<p>The sample size is incredibly small (n=35), but it appears to be a well-constructed & controlled study. This merits further investigation. And that's exactly what the abstract ends with.<p>My husband and I switched to soy milk about 15 years ago. Anecdote, he had his testosterone tested recently and it was fairly high [he's completely bald], I have not had mine tested ever. We like soy milk because we get the raw stuff without the gross thickeners like xantham gum or carageenan, everything else seems to add that (oat, rice, hemp, almond, etc.).<p>But data is data.<p>Hopefully this isn't one of those "un-reproducable studies" but it was done by the NIH and not a university.
So the soy boy meme is now backed by a scientific study.<p>EDIT: I didn’t realize the study was from 2005. In that case the research predates the meme.
Human body is complicated - when we think we know something today, it's not uncommon that eventually the evidence will come out proving us wrong. Doctors used to recommend smoking to people for stress release, all based on solid scientific evidence that was available at that time.<p>So whenever people make a dramatic switch to soy-based diet from a carnivore diet that we evolved with over millions of years, it's always important to acknowledge a possibility of side effects that we don't currently know about.