Posted by kathryn in Q & A Thursday

Next on Q & A Thursday a reader has asked:

I have heard that consuming too much soy can affect a woman’s fertility. Is this correct?

There’s a lot of scarey stuff about soy on the internet, but most of it’s complete rubbish.

While I do not recommend soy supplements, I’m very sceptical that soy foods could have any negative effect on fertility. The science simply doesn’t add up.

I’ve blogged extensively about soy before, so I’m going to point to some previous posts for a more complete answer:

• What’s the deal with soy
• How much soy is too much
• What about the anti-nutrients and phytoestrogens in soy
• Why you should ignore much of the soy scare-mongering
• Avoiding soy sauce when you have thyroid problems
• Plus there’s an excellent article on the whole issue by John Robbins: What about soy?
• There’s also a good reality check on soy in this article from the Harvard School of Public Health.

What is Q & A Thursday?

This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a fortnightly burst of blogging, where you get to dictate the subject matter. Q & A Thursday is all about simple, practical answers to food and diet dilemmas sent in by readers.

If you have a question you’d like answered, leave a comment below or send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.

06 December, 2007