There are different types of fat tissues in the body, and hormones will control which tissue types the fat is deposited in. The hips and chest are the female locations of fat, the gut for males. The hormones estrogen and testosterone will control whether fat goes into a female or a male location.

Aside from avoiding excess phytoestrogens in your food (soy), there are chemical sources of extrogen mimicking sources, called xenoestrogens.

The most common xenoestrogen is bisphenol A (BPA), found in many plastics. While the amount of xenoestrogens that leaches from a plastic water bottle into the water is very low (in the parts per billion), the normal levels of estrogen in the blood stream in a male is even lower (in the parts per trillion). BPA leeches not only from water bottles, but it's also found in the linings of tin cans, and many other food products that are shipped in plastic. BPA is also used in many thermal imaging papers, in particular cash register reciepts. You typically won't expose such paper to foods, but the BPA on those papers is not bound into polymers, but is floating free, so it's possible significant amounts could be absorbed through skin or inadvertently transfered onto foods.

Sunscreens and skin-care products can also contain high-levels of hormone distrupting products, so it's worthwhile sourcing a non-toxic sunscreen.

One big source of dietary estrogens is soy, in all of its forms. If you cut a lot of soy out of your diet when switching to Paleo, that might explain part of your improvements.

Breast tissue (which is present in all men to some degree) is largely fat. Eating more saturated fats helps encourage the body to produce proper levels of a bunch of hormones, including testosterone, which in turn helps produce muscles instead of fat. Lowering insulin levels--one of the primary goals of Paleo--should also help, since it reduces overall fat storage.

Yes, besides the diet which is now very low in Omega 6's and estrogen laced grains and soy products (including grain fed neat, etc), a succesful stregth training program using kettlebells, re-shaped my old fat body. I can take my shirt off in public for the first time in my life.

Another thing I don't seem mentioned is an enzymatic function of the body called aromatase. In men, aromatase activity refers to the conversion of testosterone into either DHT or estrogen. Fat cells are unfortunately very good at aromatizing your natural testosterone, changing it into estrogen, which is why most truly obese men end up with development of gynecomastia (or manbreasts, or moobs!). If you keep getting leaner, your fat levels will go down, and your aromatizing activity should go down, leaving you with higher testosterone to estrogen ratios in your blood - a good thing!

By the way, there are some over the counter anti-aromatizing compounds (e.g. chrysin, sold at many vitamin shops), but don't bother - its been proven ineffective in the body (though it does work in a test tube), and it can damage your thyroid. There are prescriptions that can help (e.g. arimidex), but start with just getting leaner.

Another thing is to eat more cruciferous vegies - like broccoli - they can scavenge excess estrogen from your body.

Good luck!

My father had some serious Moobs before going paleo and a year later they are nearly gone.

If you're a casked-liquor drinker, may want to switch to something non-wooded (eg. move from scotch to vodka). Estrogen from the wood has been known to cause the whiskey-tits problem.

I am not insinuating you're a heavy drinker, and giving up scotch is close to sacrilege :P.

I ran across this posting on the HeartScanBlog. Read the post...but especially read Dr. BG's comment regarding Prolactin and Moobs.

http://bit.ly/ccvdwa

Logically, since a paleo diet reduces your overall fat, you would assume that the moob problem would diminish as your total body fat goes down. Good luck.

work on improving your insulin sensitivity - intermittent fasting and cold showers for example.

I guess this is what real MOOBS are!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7NVdwRV2lkA/S8IoOvv9ZrI/AAAAAAAAAF8/Cn1RA2FqJfs/s1600/GeordieFan.bmp

Had them since puberty except when I got down to my ideal weight in the mid-20s. And I wasn't even paleo at the time--lost weight back then by limiting calories only. As soon as I put fat back on, back came the boobs. So I would say you need to lose more fat.

Dr. Davis at Heart Scan is on this one. Check out the latest blog called "Bosom Buddies". http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/

This is one of his pet peeves. You can do this. Remember Woody Allen's words in Bananas..."you must suck out the poison..."

I agree with all the hormonal points above, but would like to emphasize that nothing encourages the body to 'take back' the odd spare flesh caused by years of SAD living like Intermittent Fasting.

What I take away from Nonlinear stimulation and hormesis in human aging: practical examples and action mechanisms. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20662589 is that chronic (repeated) IF accelerates the remodelling and possible removal of damaged or redundant cells.

Just my opinion, backed by some facts. Other facts and opinions are welcome!

I'll admit, I esp. love this line from the abstract:* Such techniques include dietary restriction and calorie restriction mimetics, intermittent fasting, environmental enrichment, cognitive and sense stimulation, sexuality-enhancing strategies, exposure to low or to high temperatures, and other physicochemical challenges!*

So yes, vary how you live your life, and you'll have more of it! Or less of it, in the case of Moobs.

just about lost mine after 20+ months of Paleo. Reduce omega 6s and it can be done. Not overnight. I am very comfortable for the first time in my life to be outside without a shirt.

My Dh has been diagnosed with hyperaldosteronism, and has to take Spirinolactone to control the consequent high blood pressure. He was complaining about his newly pubescent breasts, and the discomfort from the tenderness. The nephrologist was duly concerned about this complaint about breast pain, until I interrupted the male angst fest about breast discomfort, by saying sarcastically....

Breast tenderness and pain? You guys tell me about it, right?

They got the point.