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I have a friend who's son is being raised primarily by his ex-wife. They have a good relationship even divorced, especially where the son is concerned. Recently

I have a friend who's son is being raised primarily by his ex-wife. They have a good relationship even divorced, especially where the son is concerned. Recently the boy stayed with his father for a week, during which he took him to the gym to get in shape. He's a little fat and his father wanted to help him work on his self-image. At the gym, the boy would not remove his shirt, and when he finally acquiesced and did his father found out it was because his son had considerable man-tits. Enough that they actually are looking like women's breasts. The boy's mother had been feeding him soy milk and other soy products as a primary staple of their diet. She eventually caught on what was happening but only after it was too late. He's sworn off of soy. It's going to take considerable effort to undo what has happened to him, his doctor has even discussed the possibility of testosterone treatments to counteract the damage.

rdtsc 13y ago
It is interesting that usually kids don't get a good diet because parents don't care enough about nutrition, just eat whatever is cheaper or faster. In this case it is the opposite, a soy diet is usually associated with being very conscious of what the child eats. Soy is usually associated with "healthy" eating. But it ended up having an opposite effects. "Healthy" eating is a huge market. There is of course Whole Foods, whole isles devoted to it in regular stores. It is a good of course. But there is a lot of irrationality and guesswork going on. What is interesting is that it is often people who are considered "intelligent" that end up believing various fads and strange ideas about health and nutrition. Like say I know a smart guy, a good programmer, believed in Acai thing and was drinking that. Someone else is into colon cleansing. Another one is eating super-doses of vitamins. These are supposedly educated people, good logic, math and programming skills yet they believe these strange ideas. And because of their intelligence they are harder to convince, as they are a lot better at rationalizing things away.

rdtsc 13y ago

It is interesting that usually kids don't get a good diet because parents don't care enough about nutrition, just eat whatever is cheaper or faster. In this case it is the opposite, a soy diet is usually associated with being very conscious of what the child eats. Soy is usually associated with "healthy" eating. But it ended up having an opposite effects. "Healthy" eating is a huge market. There is of course Whole Foods, whole isles devoted to it in regular stores. It is a good of course. But there is a lot of irrationality and guesswork going on. What is interesting is that it is often people who are considered "intelligent" that end up believing various fads and strange ideas about health and nutrition. Like say I know a smart guy, a good programmer, believed in Acai thing and was drinking that. Someone else is into colon cleansing. Another one is eating super-doses of vitamins. These are supposedly educated people, good logic, math and programming skills yet they believe these strange ideas. And because of their intelligence they are harder to convince, as they are a lot better at rationalizing things away.