There is this popular saying that ‘you’re what you eat’ and this saying has a lot of truth in it. Your immunity levels, fertility, IQ, height, weight and a whole lot of things can be affected directly and indirectly by what you eat. So everyone should take what they eat seriously.
Infertility is a big issue for men; being unable to impregnate a woman is probably every man’s worst nightmare, and just as there are foods that can boost fertility, there are also foods that can harm fertility.
Every man should be wary of the following foods:
1. CANNED FOODS
High consumption of canned foods can pose certain risks to a man’s health and one of them is infertility. Canned foods most likely contain Bisphenol-A (BPA); BPA is an industrial chemical that’s used to make plastics and cans.
Research has shown that men who are highly exposed to BPA have sperm counts that are 23% lower than men without BPA exposure. So, men who consume large quantities of canned foods should be wary of this.
2. ALCOHOL
Excessive alcohol consumption can also hamper the quality of a man’s sperm. Zinc deficiency has been associated with men who have low sperm counts, and alcohol is known to prevent the body from fully absorbing zinc.
Zinc is an important element of the sperm cell’s outer layer and tails which helps for good motility. Excessive alcohol intake can harm your sperm quality.
3. CAFFEINATED AND SODA DRINKS
Research has also found that high consumption of caffeinated drinks and soda drinks can hamper sperm quality. A Danish study found that the caffeine in soda can also affect a man’s sperm count. The study found that men who drank at least two pints of cola daily have sperm counts almost 30% lower than men who don’t drink cola.
4. JUNK FOODS
You might have heard about the dangers of junk foods, but you probably don’t know that they can also affect your ability to impregnate a woman. Many junk foods have a high presence of trans-fatty acids and research has shown that men with high concentration of trans-fatty acids in their semen have 96% fewer sperm than men with low concentration of trans-fatty acids.
5. SOY BASED FOODS
A Harvard based study tried to examine the effects of 15 different soy-based foods on men whose partners were trying to get pregnant.
The research found that men who eat large quantities of soy-based foods produce 36% less sperm per millilitre when compared to men who don’t eat soy-based foods.
6. PREGNANT MOTHERS THAT EAT BEEF
Unfortunately for men, their mother’s diet while pregnant can also affect their fertility rate. Research has found that men whose mothers ate large quantities of beef while pregnant are more likely to have low sperm counts when compared to men whose mothers ate lower quantity of beef.
So it isn’t just the men; pregnant mothers also play a huge role in their son’s fertility or infertility rate.
S.O.Z