Men And Their Meat, Part 2: Less Buff Because of Broccoli?
Last month in Men And Their Meat, Part 1, I talked about Dioxin, a pervasive chemical substance that has been linked to hormonal disruption and low sperm counts in men. As promised, I’m continuing with the series on why our guys need that little blue pill more and more every year.
Can broccoli - more specifically, how broccoli is grown - make you less buff? It would seem so. There are many endocrine-disrupting chemicals used in nonorganic farming operations. The question is what impact these chemicals have, and how they affect men’s virility.
If high levels of exposure to endocrine-disrupting hormones happens in an occupational setting, the risk of disease is very high. This was seen during the manufacturing of diethylstilbestrol (DES), the mother of all endocrine disruptors. In 1971 it was discovered that DES could cause a rare form of vaginal cancer. The cancer is Clear Cell Adenocarcinoma (CCAC), found in some daughters whose mothers were prescribed DES in pregnancy. The statistics show that about 1 in 1000 DES daughters will develop or have already developed this cancer. The drug was used to prevent miscarriage.
Could men be victims of the same fate? I know I’ve been talking about ‘Men and Their Meat’, but cows eat corn and conventional corn is sprayed with fungicides and pesticides and men eat cows - and broccoli too!
The main hormone which gives rise to female characteristics is estrogen, and the hormone mainly responsible for masculine characteristics is androgen. However, both sexes have both these hormones, although the levels of estrogen are higher in females and androgens are higher in males. Many pesticides have now been found to have estrogenic or anti-androgenic activity, and some bind to the androgen or estrogen receptors. More estrogen means more womanly characteristics. Two of the main culprits which have been found to bind to the estrogen receptor include: ortho-phenylphenol (a common fungicide and disinfectant sprayed on citrus and vegetables) and DDT, still used in vegetable and fruit production in many foreign countries.
Since so many herbicides and chemicals have been shown to disrupt sperm counts and virility in men, and even cause lack of facial hair, why shouldn’t men go green? The easiest way to avoid sexual dysfunction might be to avoid conventionally raised food.
