# Impossible Whopper Estrogen Impossible Whopper Estrogen refers to a false December 2019 claim that Burger King's plant-based burger contained 18 million times more estrogen than the beef Whopper, which prompted jokes about men growing breasts from vegan fast food. The claim originated with a veterinarian's column in Tri-State Livestock News and spread through 4chan /fit/, Twitter, and iFunny within days, with posters editing breasts onto men mid-bite and running food reviewer ReviewBrah through Snapchat's gender filter. ## Origin Dr. James Stangle, a veterinarian in South Dakota, published a column in Tri-State Livestock News on December 20, 2019 comparing the Impossible Whopper and the beef Whopper on calories, protein and hormonal content[1]. Stangle wrote that the soy-based patty contained 44 milligrams of estrogen against 2.5 nanograms in the beef Whopper, which he converted to 18 million times more estrogen in the plant option[1]. He also wrote that six glasses of soy milk, or four Impossible Whoppers, carried enough estrogen to 'grow boobs on a male,' and that 880 pounds of beef from a hormone-implanted steer equaled the estrogen in one birth control pill[3]. Conservative outlet National File republished the figures on December 23, 2019, which took the story beyond the agricultural press and into political social media[4]. The piece did not note that the estrogen in soy is phytoestrogen, which differs biochemically from the animal estrogen Stangle measured in beef[2]. National File eventually added that clarification on January 11, 2020[5]. - **Platform:** Tri-State Livestock News (source article) / 4chan and Twitter (viral spread) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2019 ## Overview Posts fall into two shapes. Text-heavy jokes lean on James Stangle's precise '44 milligrams' and '18 million times' figures to give an absurd medical scenario the ring of hard data[1]. Image edits add breasts to men who have just eaten the burger, sometimes using the Snapchat gender-swap filter and sometimes a cruder Photoshop. Both forms land at the intersection of the older Soy Boy meme and a wider right-wing panic over soy products causing feminization, a thread Metro UK traced to Red Pill forums[6]. Some posts ride the fear played straight, picturing an involuntary transition as a horror outcome. Others flip it, casting the burger as unintentional hormone replacement therapy with the caption 'my body after eating the Impossible Whopper' over reaction GIFs[9]. The core gag always leans on a scientific misunderstanding, since the compound in soy is phytoestrogen, a plant-derived molecule the Washington Post and a 2009 Fertility and Sterility meta-analysis both say has no documented feminizing effect in men[2][10]. ## How to Use Typical posts cite Stangle's exact 44-milligram number or the 18-million-times multiplier to give the joke an air of fake precision[1]. Visual versions graft breasts onto a man photographed eating the burger, with the Snapchat gender filter standing in for a Photoshop edit[11]. Captions often take the form 'my body after eating the Impossible Whopper' over a woman's reaction GIF[9]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Impossible Whopper Estrogen? A late-2019 meme based on a false claim that the Impossible Whopper contained 18 million times more estrogen than the beef Whopper, which inspired jokes about men growing breasts[1]. ### Where did Impossible Whopper Estrogen come from? Veterinarian James Stangle published the original figures in a Tri-State Livestock News column on December 20, 2019[1]. ### What does Impossible Whopper Estrogen mean? It refers to a cluster of jokes tying Burger King's plant-based burger to feminization through a widely circulated but false estrogen figure[2]. ### How do you use Impossible Whopper Estrogen? Posts cite Stangle's specific milligram figure or edit breasts onto a man eating the burger, often with a Snapchat gender filter[11]. ### Is Impossible Whopper Estrogen still popular? Usage faded after the news cycle ended in early 2020, with Washington Post and Metro UK coverage debunking the figure[2][6]. ### Why was Stangle's estrogen claim wrong? The estrogen in soy is phytoestrogen, which a 2009 Fertility and Sterility meta-analysis found has no significant effect on male reproductive hormones[10]. ### Where did the meme spread first? A 4chan /fit/ thread on December 24, 2019 was one of the earliest viral venues, drawing 232 replies[8]. ### What role did Twitter play? User @JOHNofWAR's December 24, 2019 tweet collected more than 2,300 retweets and 9,800 likes over the next month[7]. ### What is phytoestrogen? A plant-derived compound structurally similar to animal estrogen but with no documented feminizing effect in men, per a 2009 Fertility and Sterility meta-analysis[10]. ### Which mainstream outlets covered the panic? The Washington Post and Metro UK both published debunking pieces in the final week of December 2019[2][6]. ### How does Impossible Whopper Estrogen relate to Soy Boy? Both play on the same misunderstanding of soy phytoestrogens as feminizing agents, and Metro UK explicitly linked the two in its coverage[6]. ### Who is James Stangle? A South Dakota veterinarian who wrote the original column in Tri-State Livestock News[3]. ### What is the Impossible Whopper made of? The patty uses soy protein and a yeast-produced leghemoglobin, which carries a soybean gene to create the meat-like red color, as Stangle detailed in his column[1]. ### Was any evidence given for the 18 million figure? No; Stangle offered no laboratory test or citation for the 44-milligram estrogen number, and Washington Post reporting found no supporting data[2]. ## References 1. [https://www.tsln.com/news/stangle-impossible-burgers-are-made-of-what/]() 2. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2019/12/26/dear-men-theres-no-evidence-that-eating-impossible-whoppers-will-give-you-breasts/]() 3. [https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7832593/Veterinarian-says-Impossible-Whopper-make-men-grow-breasts-soy-proteins.html]() 4. [https://nationalfile.com/doctor-burger-kings-impossible-burger-has-18-million-times-more-estrogen-than-regular-whopper/]() 5. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/impossible-whopper-estrogen]() 6. [https://metro.co.uk/2019/12/31/no-veganuary-wont-turn-woman-11980755/]() 7. [https://twitter.com/JOHNofWAR/status/1209604383933112321]() 8. [https://desuarchive.org/fit/thread/53728071/]() 9. [https://ifunny.co/gif/my-body-after-tasting-the-new-impossible-wopper-from-burger-O9bISuUJ7]() 10. [https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(09)00966-2/fulltext]() 11. [https://desuarchive.org/fit/thread/53738682/#q53742180]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/impossible-whopper-estrogen Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library