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 […]
GalleryYour diet affects your Grandchildren’s DNA
Key Message: Diet can alter the nature of one’s DNA
Action Point: Eat a healthy, well balanced diet prior to conception to reduce the risk of diabetes and metabolic syndrome
We all know the age-old saying, “ you are what you eat”. Well now according to new studies, you are what your mother, father, grandparents and great-grandparents ate.
There has been much speculation about the ability of diet to alter the nature of your DNA, however researchers in two independent studies have found ways in which this is likely happening.
Epigenetics may help explain the increased risk that children face and the reason why poor dietary habits may be doing your offspring harm, despite how healthy they will try to eat.
A new study in the Netherlands showed the diet of human adults induces changes in all cells, including sperm and egg cells, which can be passed on to offspring. While such effects on a single generation have been known, what is still missing is an understanding of how such information is remembered from generation to generation.
The common belief is that during the process of cell division, all epigenetic markers are erased. However according to author Josep C. Jimenez-Chillaron of the Paediatric Hospital Sant Joan de Deu, in Spain his work and the work of many others “suggests that this is not completely true.” He says, “Although the majority of epigenetic markers are erased, some markers are spared for unknown reasons.”
Although the evidence is still inconclusive, another study conducted in Poland, speculates that nutrients, which affect the chromatin, can also cause mutations, both good and bad.
More experiments are needed however if mothers and fathers eat more omega-3 fatty acids, choline, betaine, folic acid and vitamin B12, these nutrients can […]
GalleryWhat affects your baby’s development in the womb?
Have you ever wondered how much of a baby’s development in the womb is determined by genes passed on from parents, compared with the mother’s nutrition, mental health and lifestyle?
Well now, an international study published in Genome Research, has used an analysis of genetic DNA marks to measure exactly this.
The combination of our genes and our experiences at the beginning of our lifetimes, inside the womb affect our health throughout our lives.
The link between a baby’s development in the womb and its risk of obesity and heart disease later in life is thought to be linked to epigenetics and DNA methylation markers.
This research provides important evidence showing most of the variations between babies come from the combination of the environment experienced in the womb and the genetic information passed on from their parents.
According to Professor Godfrey, from National University of Singapore, “development in the womb can be likened to an orchestra, in which genes are the instruments and epigenetic changes are the musicians who determine how the baby is formed.”
The Singapore GUSTO Birth Cohort Study, led by researchers at A*STAR’s Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS) in collaboration with the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, used samples of umbilical cord DNA which showed that genetic differences alone explained only 25% of the epigenetic variation between babies.
This is the world’s first study using DNA to estimate how big a role the prenatal envi-ronment plays in a child’s development and how much is simply genetically determined.
This is an extremely important study as the findings are likely to revolutionise the un-derstanding of gene-environment interactions in early life and how a mother’s nutrition and lifestyle have long lasting effects on the health of her children.
So watch this […]
GalleryDecrease the risk of childhood eczema with probiotics
With the incidence of childhood eczema at almost one in five babies in Australia, a study has showed astounding results for mums and bubs alike. Eczema is debilitating and heart breaking but there is now proof certain strains of probiotics can help.
In this study, 415 pregnant women were divided into two groups. From 36 weeks of pregnancy until 12 weeks post birth, one group took a probiotic milk supplement while the others were given a placebo.
The researchers evaluated the children at six years of age and assessed them for eczema, asthma, allergic rhino conjunctivitis, and atopic sensitisation. There was a statistically significant 52% decrease in the risk of eczema in the probiotic group.
References
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4522068/
GalleryYour diet before conception affects your child’s DNA
Key Message: What a woman eats prior to conception can affect her children’s genes
Action Point: Maintain a healthy diet and be mindful of your eating patterns well before conception
Women can often obsess about their diet during pregnancy to make sure they are doing everything right for their baby. However, the latest twist in this development has shaken the foundations of genetics.
It has been claimed by the Medical Research Council (MRC) that even before conception, a mother’s diet can have an impact on her unborn child’s immune system and pose a risk, on a long term basis, to life threatening diseases.
Basis of claim
After extensive testing on pregnant women from Gambia, the MRC came to this astonishing conclusion. As we all know a child inherits genes from his or her parents. The genes in discussion here are at the mercy of a process called DNA methylation, which is affected by epigenetics.
This affects how genes are either upregulated or downregulated and ultimately affects cell function. Research on this complex subject has pinpointed a tumor suppressor gene called VTRNA20-1, which is largely dependent on the diet of the female and vital in determining the future health of the child.
A compound called methyl group is added to the DNA, and this forces gene silencing and therefore limits their ability to express themselves properly.
How the tests were carried out
The researchers at the MRC in London required the services of pregnant African women from Gambia. Initially they were separated in two groups, as per the season they had conceived in. When divided in to the rainy season group and the dry season group, their blood was examined and comprehensively tested.
When they gave birth to their children, their blood was tested too […]
Birth canal bacteria could help C-section babies
Key Message: Birth canal bacteria could restore some of the bacteria lost during c-section births
Action Point: More research is needed however a restoring intervention may be possible for babies that have not passed the birth canal
Researchers have begun to experiment with the concept of collecting birth-canal bacteria and wiping them onto babies (born by C section) as opposed to a normal birth where the effluvia is wiped off.
They are doing this in an effort to explore the theory that altered bacterial populations could help explain why C-section babies tend to have higher chances of asthma, allergies, obesity and other health risks.
Obviously during labour, the baby is rubbing against the mucosa of the birth canal for a long time and bacteria start growing before the baby is even out and continues to grow exponentially. In this study, researchers are trying to determine whether it might help babies delivered by C-section to restore some of the vaginal bacteria that they would have been exposed to if they had gone through the birth canal.
It has been found that vaginal delivery exposes the baby to many more bacteria than C-section babies.
While the research is intriguing and the intervention seems so simple, many questions still remain and much more research is still needed.
There are concerns that this work will encourage women to have C-sections, however Dr Maria Gloria Dominguex-Bello, associate professor in the Human Microbiome Program at the NYU School of Medicine says, “the microbes are just one part of labor and we don’t understand completely the whole process and why it is important.”
Her main concern in this study is to determine the impact of not having a heavily inoculated canal and if this can be restored.
With the initial […]
How Phthalates Affect Fertility
Key Message: Exposure to BPA and phthalates can be harmful and could prevent couples from having children
Action Point: There are steps you can take to limit your exposure to BPA and phthalates
Most parents are aware that Bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates can be harmful to young children, and are conscious of buying BPA and phthalate-free plastic items like bottles and cups for them. But new science is suggesting that chemicals like BPA and phthalates could prevent couples from having children in the first place.
The new research, presented at a recent conference of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine in Boston, links exposure to BPA and phthalates, both chemicals used in many common household products to make plastic more pliable, to both increased infertility and a higher risk of miscarriage. Phthalates are known endocrine disruptors, meaning they interfere with our hormones. They have previously been associated with changes in sperm quality, androgen levels, birth outcomes and neurodevelopment of children.
One study presented at the conference found that men with high phthalate concentrations in their urine experienced a 20% decline in fertility and took longer to get their partners pregnant than men with fewer phthalates in their urine.
Another study found that women who had high levels of BPA in their blood were “at significant increased risk of miscarriage compared to women with the lowest levels.” They found that BPA levels were higher in both chromosomally normal and abnormal miscarriages.
It is not routine to test men and women with fertility problems or who have experienced miscarriage for BPA or phthalates, but that may soon change thanks to the findings of the new studies. “It gives you one more thing to ask the patients about when you see unexplained […]
GalleryHealth begins even before conception, according to groundbreaking new research
Key message: A mother’s diet before conception can affect her unborn child’s genetic make-up and immune system.
Action point: Complete a three-month preconception program to optimise your nutritional template before falling pregnant.
Thinking about having a baby? Then now is the time to get your diet right.
A mother’s diet before conception can affect her unborn child’s genetic make-up and immune system, according to new findings.1
It is commonly known that a child’s genes are inherited directly from the mother and father. The way those genes are expressed is controlled through epigenetic modifications to the DNA, which turn genes on and off and affect how cells read genes.
A study published in Nature Communications established that genetic expression can be influenced by an individual’s environment and nutritional intake, and affects the long-term health of offspring.
Researchers from the MRC International Nutrition Group, based at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and MRC Unit, used a unique ‘experiment of nature’ in rural Gambia. The population’s dependence on homegrown foods and a markedly seasonal climate impose a large difference in people’s dietary patterns between rainy and dry seasons.
Through a selection process involving more than 2000 women, the researchers enrolled pregnant women who conceived at the peak of the rainy season (84 women) and the peak of the dry season (83 women).
By measuring the concentrations of nutrients in their blood, and later analysing blood and hair follicle samples from their 2–8 month-old infants, they found that a mother’s diet before conception had a significant affect on the properties of her child’s DNA. A mother’s nutritional status at the time of conception can permanently change the function of a gene that influences her child’s immunity and cancer risks.
The study has found that a […]
GalleryProbiotics Can Put A Smile on Your Dial
A study epublished in April 2015 reports that probiotic supplementation improves negative thoughts accompanying sad mood. The National Institute of Mental Health states that an estimated 16 million American adults (6.9%) had at least one major depressive episode in the past year with an additional 1.5% experiencing a milder form of depression known as dysthymic disorder.
In this triple-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial, 40 subjects without mood disorders received supplementation for four weeks with a placebo or a multi-species probiotic, which included Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium lactis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus salivarius, and Lactococcus lactis. The investigators evaluated cognitive reactivity to sad mood using the Leiden index of depression sensitivity scale at the beginning of the study and again after the supplementation period. Increased cognitive reactivity to normal, temporary alterations in sad mood is considered to be an indicator of how susceptible a person is to depression.
The subjects in the probiotic group experienced a significantly reduced overall cognitive reactivity to sad mood compared to the placebo group. The reduced overall cognitive reactivity was accompanied by less rumination and fewer aggressive thoughts.
The study authors stated, “These results provide the first evidence that the intake of probiotics may help reduce negative thoughts associated with sad mood. Probiotics supplementation warrants further research as a potential preventive strategy for depression.”
Reference:
Steenbergen L, et al. Brain Behav Immun. 2015 Apr 7
