Eat healthy and multiply
Trying for a family can be an anxious time for couples. One in six couples will experience some difficulty, in that they will take more than a year to conceive.
Until recently, subfertility was considered to be primarily a female issue. Recent data, however, indicates that this is a misconception. Research is being carried out on things which can affect sperm production. Diet seems to be a significant factor.
When seminal fluid is analysed we look at the volume of the sample, the viscosity, the number of sperms, the proportion that are active and the number of abnormal sperms present. The significance of the abnormal sperm is that it may well have damaged DNA, and will be less likely to fertilise an egg.
A study just published in the journal Fertility and Sterility suggests that men who consume a diet high in processed meat and high in dairy products are likely to have more poor quality sperm than men who have a diet high in fruit and vegetables, and who drink semi-skimmed milk.
The study looked at 60 men, half of whom were found to have poor quality sperm. The correlation with high processed meat and high fat dairy products was significant, as was the finding that those with the high fruit and vegetable diet had good quality sperm.
It is thought that the high antioxidant content of those with a higher fruit and veg diet protects sperm from damage.
It is also speculated that the higher animal fat could be contributing by virtue of the presence of xenobiotics. This includes steroids and various chemicals in the environment that have oestrogen-like effects. Xenobiotics tend to accumulate in high-fat foods, which in turn accumulate in men with high-fat diets.
Another study from Harvard University recently published in the journal Human Reproduction suggests that eating too much soy could be a factor. Soy products are thought to be high in phyto-oestrogens, or plant-derived compounds which mimic the effects of oestrogen.
It was found that the men who ate the most soy had fewer sperm than men who didn't. In addition, they found that the link between soy and sperm concentration was stronger among overweight and obese men.
Overweight men produce more oestrogen, and soy may increase those oestrogen levels even further. The combination of the phyto-oestrogens in soy and the extra internal oestrogen from being overweight could result in fewer sperms.
Getting diet right is so important. Sperm production is very important when a couple are trying to conceive, yet the fact that sperm production can be affected by getting the balance wrong is a good indication of how it affects the health of cells.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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