Planting a New Manhood: Why Real Strength Starts with Plants

By embracing plants, men can protect their health, their legacy—and the Earth.

Real Men, Real Emissions

In the battle to protect the planet, there’s a surprising source of resistance: masculinity itself.

A 2025 working paper from the London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute found that men generate about a third more climate-warming emissions than women, mainly because they eat more meat and drive more often [1]. These findings highlight how everyday masculine-coded behaviors—like eating steaks and revving engines—carry a heavy environmental price [2].

But this isn’t just about emissions—it’s about identity. Eating meat has long been entangled with traditional notions of manhood: strength, dominance, virility. Yet the habits many men adopt to prove their masculinity may be harming both their health and the planet they claim to protect.

When Masculinity Becomes a Dietary Trap

Many men reject plant-based diets not because they’re unaware of the health or environmental benefits—but because they fear it makes them look weak. Research shows that men who feel their masculinity is threatened are more likely to overcompensate with meat-heavy diets, aggressive behavior, and other stereotypical male-coded actions [3].

At the heart of many male fears around plant-based eating lies one seed—well, technically, one legume—of confusion: soy.

Thanks to decades of misinformation, soy has been wrongly blamed for “feminizing” men. But the science is clear: Isoflavones, the phytoestrogens in soy, do not reduce testosterone or impair male hormone balance. A comprehensive meta-analysis confirmed this across all doses and durations [4].

In fact, soy milk may be a better choice than cow’s milk for men concerned about hormones. Unlike plant foods, animal-derived products like dairy and meat contain actual estrogens and hormone residues, including recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), which can elevate IGF-1, a growth factor linked to hormone-related cancers [5, 6].

So if you’re choosing milk based on masculinity, the science says: go soy.

The Hidden Cost of Overweight and Obesity

By clinging to unhealthy dietary patterns, men are packing on more weight—and it’s doing more than expanding waistlines. It’s chipping away at the very traits they associate with masculinity.

Unlike women—whose bodies are metabolically adapted to store more fat—men face increased risks of cardiometabolic conditions like cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes at much lower body weights [7]. 

Unlike women—whose bodies are metabolically adapted to store more fat—men develop cardiometabolic problems at lower body-weight thresholds: they’re typically diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at a lower BMI and show higher cardiovascular-mortality risk than women even in the ‘normal-weight’ range [7, 8]. They are also more vulnerable to hormonal imbalance, as excess body fat can increase estrogen production and suppress testosterone [9]. The result is a hormonal environment that raises the risk of erectile dysfunction (ED) and breast tissue development [9].

Obesity further compromises male reproductive and sexual health by lowering sperm quality, increasing scrotal temperature, promoting oxidative stress, and impairing fertility [9-11]. Encouragingly, studies show that weight loss can help reverse these effects and improve sperm quality [12].

There’s nothing masculine about a swollen belly and enlarged breasts—yet instead of breaking the cycle with foods that nourish and restore, many men double down on meat, processed food, and bravado, only accelerating their decline.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. A growing body of research is revealing just how powerfully diet influences male vitality.

Plant Power Below the Belt

When it comes to male health, performance matters—and not just in the gym.

A 2025 review in The Journal of Nutrition concluded that plant-based dietary patterns are consistently linked to better erectile function [13]. Reinforcing this, a 2022 prospective study of nearly 22,000 male health professionals found that men who followed plant-forward diets were significantly less likely to develop erectile dysfunction—even after controlling for body weight, physical activity, smoking, and other lifestyle factors [14]. These findings offer compelling evidence that what men eat directly influences sexual health.

Erectile dysfunction is more than a bedroom concern. It can be an early warning sign of systemic issues like inflammation, poor circulation, metabolic imbalance, and declining hormone levels. These are the very conditions driven by a diet heavy in red meat, processed foods, and excess fat.

The good news? Many of these issues are reversible. A shift toward whole, plant-based foods can improve cardiovascular health, reduce inflammation, and support hormonal balance — all of which contribute to stronger, more consistent sexual performance.

Rethinking Strength

The gap between what masculinity looks like and what male health needs is doing real harm—from the environment to the body.
The truth? Eating plants isn’t weak. Clinging to habits that hurt your health and legacy is.
Masculinity isn’t about meat. It’s about discipline. Responsibility. Vitality. And real strength starts with what’s on your plate.

Even modest weight loss can improve testosterone levels, energy, and mood—and a plant-forward diet is one of the most effective ways to get there. Cutting back on processed foods, choosing whole ingredients, and swapping animal products for nutrient-rich options like beans, tofu, and fortified plant milks can help reduce excess fat while supporting hormonal health.

It doesn’t take a complete overhaul to see results. Start with one plant-based meal a day. Small, consistent choices can create powerful momentum—for your body, your confidence, and your future.

Strong men don’t resist change. They lead it.

References

[1] Berland O, Leroutier M. The gender gap in carbon footprints: determinants and implications. Working Paper 424. Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics; 14 May 2025. https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/publication/the-gender-gap-in-carbon-footprints-determinants-and-implications/
[2] Carrington D. Car use and meat consumption drive emissions gender gap, research suggests. The Guardian. 14 May 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/14/car-use-and-meat-consumption-drive-emissions-gender-gap-research-suggests
[3] Rosenfeld DL, Tomiyama AJ. Gender differences in meat consumption and openness to becoming vegetarian. Appetite.2021;156:104959. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34166748/
[4] Messina M. Soy foods and men’s health. Fertility & Sterility. 2010;94(5):1971 – 1976. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20378106/
[5] Melnik BC, et al. The role of cow’s milk in breast cancer initiation and progression. Current Nutrition Reports.2023;12(1):122 – 140. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36729355/
[6] Collins K. Soy and Breast Cancer: Myths and Misconceptions. American Institute for Cancer Research blog, 2024. https://www.aicr.org/resources/blog/soy-and-cancer-myths-and-misconceptions/
[7] Kautzky-Willer, A., Leutner, M., & Harreiter, J. (2023). Sex differences in type 2 diabetes. Diabetologia, 66(5), 986–1002. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-023-05891-x link.springer.com

[8] Song, X., Tabák, A. G., Zethelius, B., Yudkin, J. S., Söderberg, S., Laatikainen, T., … Qiao, Q. (2014). Obesity attenuates gender differences in cardiovascular mortality. Cardiovascular Diabetology, 13, 144. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12933-014-0144-5
[9] Cabler S, Agarwal A, Flint M, du Plessis SS. Obesity: modern man’s fertility nemesis. Asian Journal of Andrology.2010;12(4):480 – 489. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20531281/
[10] Sermondade N, et al. BMI in relation to sperm count: an updated systematic review and collaborative meta-analysis.Human Reproduction Update. 2013;19(3):221 – 231. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23242914/
[11] Palmer NO, Bakos HW, Fullston T, Lane M. Impact of obesity on male fertility, sperm function and molecular composition. Spermatogenesis. 2012;2(4):253–263. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3521747/

[12] Andersen E, Juhl CR, Kjøller ET, et al. Sperm count is increased by diet-induced weight loss and maintained by exercise or GLP-1 analogue treatment: a randomized controlled trial. Human Reproduction. 2022;37(7):1414-1422. doi:10.1093/humrep/deac096 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35580859/
[13] Fernández-Fígares Jiménez MC. Plant-Based Diet and Erectile Dysfunction: A Narrative Review. Journal of Nutrition. 2025;155(6):1644-1652. doi:10.1016/j.tjnut.2025.04.019 https://jn.nutrition.org/article/S0022-3166(25)00229-9/abstract

[14] Yang H, Breyer BN, Rimm EB, Giovannucci EL, Loeb S, Kenfield SA, Bauer SR. Plant-based diet index and erectile dysfunction in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. BJU International. 2022;130(4):514-521. doi: 10.1111/bju.15765 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35484829/