It’s not just women who need the healthy omega 3 fats to increase their fertility – latest research says that it’s men too! This study was very interesting and the results were clear – men who had higher levels of omega 3’s had healthier sperm.
82 men with clinically diagnosed infertility due to oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (low sperm count with a high percentage of slow moving and abnormal sperm) were compared to 78 fertile men. Sperm and blood samples were analysed according to WHO standards. The fertile men had higher levels of omega 3’s in their blood and semen than infertile men. Also, the infertile men had a higher ratio of omega 6’s: omega 3’s than fertile men.
Omega 6 fatty acids tend to be plentiful in our diet, coming from sources such as avocado, eggs, grains and cereals while omega 3s are not as common. Omega 3’s are found in high amounts in cold water fish and seeds such as flaxseed. In Western diets the ratio of omega 6’s: omega 3’s tend to favour the omega 6’s. So what we really need to focus on is increasing our omega 3’s.
The easiest way to do this is by taking a high-quality practitioner brand of fish oils. These are guaranteed to be sourced from small fish such as sardines and mackerel, are batch tested for heavy metals such as methylmercury and are also screened for impurities. These are the only type of fish oils supplements that I recommend and use.
So, for all men who are trying to have a baby, taking additional omega 3’s will improve sperm parameters. Don’t forget, Omega 3’s also have strong anti-inflammatory properties and have clinically proven to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, arthritis, […]
Men Need Healthy Fats to Lower their Risk of Infertility
Bisphenol A in your body: How it got there and how to minimize your exposure
The common plastic additive bisphenol A has been getting a lot of attention lately. It’s a hormone disruptor that can be found in almost everybody, and animal studies have linked it to breast and prostate cancer, and infertility. In April of 2008, the National Toxicology Program raised concerns that exposure to BPA during pregnancy and childhood could impact the developing breast and prostate, hasten puberty, and affect behavior in American children. Knowing how you’re exposed is among the best ways to minimize further exposure.
How’d it get there?
Studies show canned foods are a common source of daily BPA exposure in our lives. Cans of soda generally contain less BPA than canned pasta or soup. The worst foods tested contain enough BPA to put pregnant women and formula-fed infants much closer to dangerous levels than the government typically allows. Even some liquid infant formula is packed in cans lined with BPA, which seems ludicrous given the special vulnerabilities of children’s developing systems.
In addition to canned food, certain plastics are often made with BPA. Called polycarbonate, these plastics are rigid and clear or translucent and usually marked with a recycling label #7. Not all #7 containers are made with BPA, but it makes for a reasonable and useful guideline for avoiding a category of plastics. Some reusable polycarbonate water bottles (we won’t name names), marketed as non-leaching because they minimize plastic taste and odor, may still leach trace amounts of BPA. But hold on before you run out and buy a metal water bottle — make sure you know what you’re getting. Many reusable metal water bottles are lined with the same BPA-leaching plastic found in cans of food.
How do you get rid of it?
Unfortunately, BPA […]
The Concept of IntraUterine Pollution
Three years ago Dr. Michael Odent, a world renowned leader in the field of obstetrics, stated that “human health is shaped to a great extent during intrauterine life and prenatal pollution is a threat for the health of future generations”. Such an accumulation of research demonstrates that there are enormous implications in terms of public health – nothing is more important today than the health and wellbeing of pregnant women. We need to address the importance of nutrition before the conception of the baby, as a way to prepare the intrauterine environment.
One important factor that Dr. Odent considers is the effect of fat soluble synthetic chemicals on health. Over the years we have accumulated hundreds of chemicals in our adipose tissue that would not have been there 60 years ago as such chemicals didn’t exist. Many of these chemicals have a long half life and we do not have the enzymes required to break them down for excretion. During the time an embryo is nourished in the uterus, molecules used by cells to “talk” to each other affect the way that genes are expressed. This ability of the environment to “turn on” or “turn off” a gene is studied in the fascinating science called Epigenetics. This is a field that I am particularly interested in and there are many emerging studies that are shedding light on this.
Going back to fat soluble chemicals, many of them are biologically active at very small amounts, usually too small to be detected in standard testing procedures. Just because a substance is not detected on a test does not mean that it is harmless! We now have strong conclusive evidence that the increasing rates of male genital tract disorders […]
