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Ten dietary and lifestyle interventions to resolve gynecomastia or swelling of male breast tissue without resorting to pharmaceutical drugs or surgery.
Gynecomastia, known colloquially as “man boobs”, is a benign enlargement and swelling of breast tissue in males.
It is thought to be caused by an imbalance of the hormones estrogen and testosterone. One or both breasts may be affected.
According to some estimates, about half of adolescent boys experience at least some breast development during puberty.
Living in Florida where swimming and beach activities are popular year-round, however, I can tell you it surely seems more prevalent than this.
Cases of man boobs are on the rise around the globe no doubt paralleling the rise in obesity rates.
Glasgow, Scotland, which boasts the second-highest obesity rate of all countries studied by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, has seen an 80 percent rise in man boobs reduction surgery in recent years. (1)
While most cases of man boobs are related to problems with excess weight, it seems that even thin and normal-weight boys and men are increasingly experiencing issues with breast enlargement.
Go to any water park this summer and look around. Clearly, this health issue is at epidemic levels. Moreoever, it isn’t just the boys and men struggling with their weight that are affected.
Something environmental is at play here as I don’t ever remember seeing even one case when I was growing up in Florida…certainly never on a thin otherwise normal-weight individual.
Male Hormonal Imbalance
Could all the soy that is in the majority of processed foods today which has added plant estrogens (isoflavones) to the male diet at a rate never seen before in history be a factor?
Not even in Asia was soy ever consumed in the large amounts experienced by those eating a modern diet. Traditional Asian societies primarily consumed soy in small, condimental amounts after careful and long periods of fermentation.
Perhaps the increasing popularity of soy infant formula starting a few decades ago is partly to blame which exposes a male infant to disruptive levels of estrogen at a very vulnerable time for the developing hormonal system.
An estimated 25% of North American babies today receive soy baby formula made from processed soybeans, mostly GMO.
An infant exclusively receiving soy formula consumes the estrogenic equivalent of at least 5 birth control pills every single day! (2)
Beware of soy milk too.
A single glass a day for a few months can lead to hormone disruption according to Dr. Kaayla Daniel, author of The Whole Soy Story. (3)
Don’t ever let your children touch the stuff, and if you enjoy a soy milk latte regularly, switch to coconut milk!
Steroids in Conventional Meat and Dairy
What about all the steroids, hormones, and antibiotic-laced feed used in the conventional dairy and meat industry?
Consumption of foods from factory-farmed animals containing pharmaceutical residues could be another contributing factor to the estrogen/testosterone imbalance at the root of gynecomastia. (4, 5)
There is no doubt that there are multiple environmental reasons for the large and very worrisome increases in gynecomastia across the board.
For the person who suffers from it, however, the reason for the condition is not nearly as important as resolving it…and quickly!
Conventional Treatments
Conventional medicine maintains that many cases of gynecomastia clear up on their own within about two years.
After that, surgery is the conventional treatment route. This is very expensive and usually not covered by insurance as it is considered cosmetic.
Even if the conventional claim of spontaneous resolution was true (anecdotally I would dispute this from the stories I hear), two years is a very long time at a very vulnerable stage in an adolescent’s emotional development.
Avoiding social situations that require a bathing suit for that period of time seems unrealistic. This is particularly true in a warm weather climate.
Rather than wait and see for two long years only to resort later to surgery or (worse) drugs designed for breast cancer like tamoxifen and raloxifene does not seem like a good plan that is either healthy in the long term or reasonable in cost for most families.
10 Steps to Banish Man Boobs
According to certified staff at Biodynamic Wellness, gynecomastia responds extremely well to nutritional support and dietary change.
When a patient presents with a case of gynecomastia, the following dietary and lifestyle interventions are implemented as quickly as possible.
- Immediately stop consumption of any and all sources of soy in order to remove plant estrogens from the diet. Because soy protein or soybean oil are present in the vast majority of processed foods, this means freshly prepared, whole foods at home must become the rule rather than the exception. This includes eggs and meat that are soy-fed and animals given antibiotics. Many times, this change alone will resolve the problem.
- Add iodine supplementation. Suggested brands are Iodoral or Nascent Iodine.
- Add Symplex M from Standard Process.
- Begin using castor oil packs over the liver and/or coffee enemas. These two therapies assist the liver in processing all that excess estrogen causing the hormonal imbalance relative to testosterone.
- Increase dietary animal fats to at least one tablespoon per meal.
- Use bone broth or meat stocks made at home for optimal potency to provide the necessary amino acids to the liver for optimal detoxification.
- Eliminate all grains for 30-60 days. After that time incorporate properly prepared, soaked grains only.
- Emphasis on a Nourishing Traditions diet. (6)
- Use only whole Vitamin C (not synthetic forms of ascorbic acid) to help metabolize and eliminate excess estrogen.
- Some people are poor methylators. Proper methylation in liver detoxification is critical for eliminating excess estrogen. These individuals may benefit from methylated B vitamins with the addition of trimethylglycine (TMG). Fortunately, this last step is often not necessary. Avoid synthetic folic acid found in multivitamins and fortified foods.
After putting these lifestyle and dietary interventions in place, many boys and men suffering from gynecomastia will see dramatic improvement and even a complete resolution of the condition over time.
(1) Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
(2) Soy Infant Formula. Birth Control Pills for Babies
(3) The Whole Soy Story
(4) Precocious Puberty
(5) Stop Giving Antibiotics to Animals
(6) Nourishing Traditions
More Information
The Shrinking Effect of Pseudo Estrogens on Reproductive Organs
Antibiotic Exposure and Early Puberty in Boys
Sarah, I have two teenagers, yet have never ever seen a thin or average weight boy with breast enlargement! Ever. Though I do notice that in the last 20 years, teen boys have become as fixated as teen girls with body perfection.
This is why I object to your use of anecdotal evidence to prove your points. You can’t just say “oh, I see boys everywhere with enlarged breasts” and expect that to pass for evidence!! It is pure laziness.
Oh really would be happy to share some photos of me. I have probably around a B cup yet weigh 170lbs 6foot run 3miles every morning, however they came in around 5th grade when I was stick think with abs. I was probably the most active kid alive so bite me this is serious.
Hi Sarah, I was wanting to know have you come across any healthful news about ears that ring? I would be interested in reading any info that you have.
Thanks,
Zada
I would like to know if the simplex M and nascent iodine would be okay for someone who has adrenal insufficiency? I’m pretty sure my thyroid is not up to par due to an always low body temperature. I’m taking steroids for my adrenals and have put on close to 35 lbs and the only thyroid tests they do is TSH & T3. I would like a natural option. My cardiologist told me the steroids were the worst thing I could take, but the endocrinologist he referred me to didn’t see patients under 65.
I sure would like to find a natural treatment without spending thousands of dollars in medical tests.
I don’t think anything was offensive.
People who honestly don’t know about the problems with soy, including but not limited to the problems with GMO, are simply behind the learning curve. Those who WANT to educate themselves, will: the info is everywhere. Those who DON’T want to learn something new including they were wrong, won’t. So either way, there’s no use discussing it with someone who thinks soy is good.
For me personally, I just say I’m allergic to soy and all processed foods. Like alcoholics saying they’re allergic to alcohol during social drinking situations, this seems to work really well. If I eat out I take my own salad dressing, and following Jack LaLanne’s queue, I ask for the cook and explain I want a salad with 20 different kinds of fresh veggies in it, and NOTHING ELSE and no flavorings in it. They either agree or I don’t place an order, simple as that. Problem solved.
There are many endocrine disrupters. Consider bromines and flourides. Better just to eat from food you prepared yourself.
Sarah– ever heard of atrazine? It’s in the water supply. There’s a great TED talk about how it gives frogs both sets of sex organs and alters their sexual preference. Bet that has something to do with it!
My grandson developed this condition when ten years. Took all meat and eggs that came from animals treated with hormones away and his condition resolved within nine months.
My grandson developed this problem when he was ten and was living in my home. The pediatrician had me take any meat and eggs that were not hormone free away. It was hard to find much twelve years ago but we did and the condition resolved in about nine months.
I just wanted to say that this can happen sometimes even if you eat a nourishing traditional diet. My understanding is that one in three boys will develop some breast tissue in adolescence – just as a part of the hormonal mess that puberty is! I have three sons, we eat a healthy, whole foods diet, and yet one of my boys did get little breast buds when he was about 12. They went away on their own within six months. We drink RO water, clean local milk, and I would never feed my kids soy. It was all okay. I just wanted to mention that, because I know I was scared at first, and I would hate for any other moms out there to jump to any dire conclusion. Yes, be careful with your kids’ diets, but adolescent boys are also just very very weird. 🙂
Well that was not helpful reading all those comments. Has anybody had success in treating this? My son is 13 and has one boob. He is closer to 14 now and has had it for almost a year. He is getting teased a bit and feeling terrible about it. I just took him to a homeopathic type Dr in town and have him taking a few various supplements. I am about to get pretty extreme with his diet. We already eat quite healthy but can sure improve. I would love it if anyone out there could tell me there success stories and what you did. By the way, my son is very fit and strong and wrestles and plays football. He is not at all chubby. And we eat organic produce, grass fed organic meat, and drink raw goats milk. Also we have our own chickens. I bake and cook most all of our food. I do buy some crackers and snack foods sometimes but we are not consuming large amounts by any means. They are still being fazed out of our life. Any help would be so appreciated. I loved the post by the way. I cannot tell you how much I have searched online for answers. So thank you so much for the all the tips. Now I just need to figure out how to go about it all.
My homeopath attributes it not only to the soy but to the herbicides that are so randomly sprayed by the State Dept of Transportation and HOAs – some types are much worse than others as the are estrogen mimicking.