do men get breasts from beer?

It is a persistent rumor: men can get breasts if they drink too much beer, the so-called ‘man boobs’. Is this the hard truth or a rumor that you should take with a grain of salt?

In the Koken & Weten podcast of the AD, health journalist Tijn Elferink gives the redeeming answer to this pressing question.

Do men get breasts from beer?

To get the answer to this question, we must first talk about hops. As you may know, hops are one of the basic ingredients of beer, and it is precisely this ingredient that is full of the substance phytoestrogen. This substance is not only hidden in your cold glass of lager, you can also find it in beans, linseed, peas, sesame seeds, soy and even broccoli.

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Phytohormones are substances that are very similar to hormones, and as the name suggests, phytoestrogen is similar to the hormone estrogen. And that’s where it gets interesting.

Female hormones

You may know estrogen as the female sex hormone. This hormone is secreted by ovaries, among other things. It has an important role in pregnancy, the menstrual cycle and the shaping of feminine curves. Including the breasts.

That is why, in theory, it is not really crazy thoughts that beer can have consequences for breast growth in men, Tijn Elferink agrees in the AD Cooking and Knowing podcast. Yet he can be very clear about it: it doesn’t work that way.

Elferink: “The effect of phytohormones is so much weaker than the real hormone that you Soy eat or drink so much beer that it just isn’t possible. In theory it works a bit like that, but in practice it never works to get so many phytoestrogens. ”

Conclusion: this theory is a storm in a glass of beer. Those man boobs are not because of the beer or a large amount of phytoestrogen, but because of the alcohol and excess calories. Do we know that again, so get on with that one online beer tasting.

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