You may have heard lately that the new, meat-less Impossible Whopper from Burger King contains chemicals that will cause men to grow larger (and more female-like) breasts.  The claim is that the patties contain an estrogen-like compound in such a huge quantity that it would alter the male physique in a fundamentally un-male way.

The claim that moobs were in your future if you dined on the meatless burgers often enough originated with an article written by Dr. James Stangle.  Stangle claimed in his report that the Impossible Whopper patties (made by Impossible Foods) contain 44 milligrams of the hormone estrogen.  When compared with the 2.5 nanograms (1 milligram = 1,000,000 nanograms) in the beef Whopper, it seems plausible that a few of these could cause some serious swelling in the chestal region.

When you look a little deeper into the issue, however - the story seems to lose credibility.  First off, Stangle is a doctor of veterinary medicine. Secondly, his research was first published in the Tri-State Livestock News - a publication made for ranchers (AKA an industry bypassed by the creation of a plant based burger).  Finally, according to New York University nutrition professor Marion Nestle, the estrogen found in the burger that Stangle claims is the bad guy (or girl) in this whole scenario isn't exactly the culprit he makes it out to be.

According to Professor Nestle's interview with the Washington Post, the hormone found in the Impossible Whopper are phytoestrogens found in soy - a similar but much, much weaker form of the compound.  Nestle's contention is this: If men from long-standing Asian cultures that have very soy-heavy diets haven't formed Dolly Parton-like features - it's not likely that you will from scarfing down a few beef-less Whoppers.

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