While it’s hard not to stare at a perfectly sculpted male form, it’s harder not to gawk at a pair of jiggling man boobs, or moobs for short. But before you mistake moobs for lumps of fat, think again. Male chests are typically flat (including the nipples), but moobs – or gynaecomastia – is the swelling of breast tissue.
It’s actually a hormonal thing, because it happens when there’s too much estrogen produced by the testicles (which produces estrogen and testosterone). Estrogen is the female hormone that signals the body to retain more fat in the chest.
Moobs can look like saggy chests that simply gave up, or even have swollen nipples that can confuse babies. Worse, one moob may become larger than the other.
Studies have suggested that moobs affect a third of all men over their lifetime. For most men, they usually go away on their own after puberty (and come back after 65). These days, some guys in between these life stages have moobs – the problem is, you can be a gym rat with abs like a waffle-maker and still have them. So what gives?
The moob makers
Many studies have linked these hormonal imbalances with food. A high-fat, high-carb diet like pastries, fries, milkshakes, and fried chicken are culprits. In 2015 a 26-year old male Chinese graduate whose go-to snack was fried chicken had grown a pair of particularly perky moobs. Some doctors pointed his moobs to growth hormones present in poultry.
High-estrogen foods – called ‘estrogenics’ – are also to blame, including beans, peas, alfalfa sprouts, and of course soybeans (soy milk, tofu, mock meat). Alcohol is another culprit, as it affects the liver’s ability to get rid of excess estrogen. Plus, drinking beer can expand more than waistlines, because hops contain phytoestrogen.
Researchers at Yale University are also accusing BPA and phthalates which are found in common everyday items like cosmetics, cans, pesticides, and plastics. BPA mimics estrogen, and phthalates block testosterone action.
Some medications are also to blame, including cholesterol drugs, hair loss treatments, and steroids which can turn into estrogen. For some men, moobs point to something more sinister, like hypogonadism (small testes) or hyperthyroidism.
This is an excerpt of Campus Issue 55 – the ‘Issues Issue’. Read more about moobs, and other interesting ‘Issues’ here.
