max de Indiana
February 19th, 2005, 04:33 PM
You may never have heard the word gynecomastia, but you’ve seen men with this condition ... or maybe you have it yourself. The problem is so widespread that more than 16,000 men had breast reduction surgery in 2001. Between 30 and 60 percent of all men will develop this unmanly appearance. And what could be more embarrassing than male boobs? “Why me?” you might ask. The answer could be found on your dinner plate. Most cases of gynecomastia are caused by too much estrogen or estrogen-like substances in the body. One way you get too much estrogen is to consume meat and dairy products laden with hormones and chemicals.
Obesity and Large Breasts
Fatty tissue also causes gynecomastia—this means that overweight men are likely to develop bigger breasts. As many as half of all Americans are now overweight, and an astounding one-third, or 60 million adult Americans, are obese. For many men with gynecomastia, losing excess weight will improve the condition. It also saves lives. Studies show that 300,000 preventable deaths in the U.S. every year are attributable to obesity. Lose those extra pounds and you’ll also decrease your chances of developing arthritis, breast cancer, heart disease, colorectal cancer, type 2 diabetes, endometrial cancer, end-stage renal disease, gallbladder disease, hypertension, liver disease, low back pain, renal cell cancer, obstructive sleep apnea, stroke, urinary incontinence—and male breasts.
Vegetarians tend to weigh less and are at lower risk for these conditions. .
On today’s factory farms, where producing full-grown animals as quickly as possible is the goal, feed is continually treated with growth-promoting drugs, and cattle are dosed with hormones. Some of these are natural forms of estrogen, such as estradiol, and some are chemicals that mimic naturally occurring hormones. These hormones and other drugs don’t leave the body easily. They are stored in the fatty tissue of animals who are slaughtered, cut up, and sold at grocery stores. When people eat this animal flesh, or drink cow’s milk, the hormones and other drugs enter their bodies.
While our bodies naturally produce tiny amounts of hormones, they were never meant to be bombarded with hormones and hormone-like chemicals through our food. The estrogens wreak havoc with our systems, and for many men, this means the unwelcome appearance of breasts. Consider this: An 8-year-old boy who eats two hamburgers a day will increase his hormone levels by as much as 10 percent! Over a period of years, this can create an estrogen imbalance, which in turn leads to larger breasts.
Pesticides also contribute to the problem. Hydrocarbon pesticide residues, when ingested, tell the body that estrogens are present in high levels. As much as 94 percent of all hydrocarbon pesticide residues enter our systems through the consumption of animal products like chicken, pork, and other meats, as well as dairy products and eggs.
Less Meat, Smaller Male Boobs
Eliminating animal products from your diet can help in three ways. First, you will drastically reduce the amount of estrogens and estrogen-mimicking pesticides entering your system. Less estrogen means fewer problems with unwanted side effects. Studies also show that vegetarians have a higher number of special molecules, called “sex hormone binding globulin,” or SHBG, that hold onto estrogen until your body really needs it. To put it another way, SHBG tells your body not to use the estrogen to grow larger breasts. The estrogen is released just to keep the body’s hormones in balance. Finally, vegetarians consume two to three times more fiber than nonvegetarians. Fiber is crucial for reducing excess levels of estrogen in the body, according to researchers at the University of Vermont.
http://www.goveg.com/feat/l-breastman.html
Obesity and Large Breasts
Fatty tissue also causes gynecomastia—this means that overweight men are likely to develop bigger breasts. As many as half of all Americans are now overweight, and an astounding one-third, or 60 million adult Americans, are obese. For many men with gynecomastia, losing excess weight will improve the condition. It also saves lives. Studies show that 300,000 preventable deaths in the U.S. every year are attributable to obesity. Lose those extra pounds and you’ll also decrease your chances of developing arthritis, breast cancer, heart disease, colorectal cancer, type 2 diabetes, endometrial cancer, end-stage renal disease, gallbladder disease, hypertension, liver disease, low back pain, renal cell cancer, obstructive sleep apnea, stroke, urinary incontinence—and male breasts.
Vegetarians tend to weigh less and are at lower risk for these conditions. .
On today’s factory farms, where producing full-grown animals as quickly as possible is the goal, feed is continually treated with growth-promoting drugs, and cattle are dosed with hormones. Some of these are natural forms of estrogen, such as estradiol, and some are chemicals that mimic naturally occurring hormones. These hormones and other drugs don’t leave the body easily. They are stored in the fatty tissue of animals who are slaughtered, cut up, and sold at grocery stores. When people eat this animal flesh, or drink cow’s milk, the hormones and other drugs enter their bodies.
While our bodies naturally produce tiny amounts of hormones, they were never meant to be bombarded with hormones and hormone-like chemicals through our food. The estrogens wreak havoc with our systems, and for many men, this means the unwelcome appearance of breasts. Consider this: An 8-year-old boy who eats two hamburgers a day will increase his hormone levels by as much as 10 percent! Over a period of years, this can create an estrogen imbalance, which in turn leads to larger breasts.
Pesticides also contribute to the problem. Hydrocarbon pesticide residues, when ingested, tell the body that estrogens are present in high levels. As much as 94 percent of all hydrocarbon pesticide residues enter our systems through the consumption of animal products like chicken, pork, and other meats, as well as dairy products and eggs.
Less Meat, Smaller Male Boobs
Eliminating animal products from your diet can help in three ways. First, you will drastically reduce the amount of estrogens and estrogen-mimicking pesticides entering your system. Less estrogen means fewer problems with unwanted side effects. Studies also show that vegetarians have a higher number of special molecules, called “sex hormone binding globulin,” or SHBG, that hold onto estrogen until your body really needs it. To put it another way, SHBG tells your body not to use the estrogen to grow larger breasts. The estrogen is released just to keep the body’s hormones in balance. Finally, vegetarians consume two to three times more fiber than nonvegetarians. Fiber is crucial for reducing excess levels of estrogen in the body, according to researchers at the University of Vermont.
http://www.goveg.com/feat/l-breastman.html