Low Folate Harms Sperm

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Low Folate Levels Harm Sperm
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Last Updated November 15, 2011, last updated December 6, 2012
By Editors, MangoBoss

Most women know that folate should be taken to prevent birth
defects when they are trying to conceive. But now research
has shown that men, too, need to watch their folate levels. It
turns out that low folate levels may actually harm sperm.

A new study on the effect of folate on sperm has been
released by the National Institutes of Health on March 20,
2008. Folate is one of the B vitamins and is found in leafy
green vegetables, fruit and beans, chickpeas and lentils. By
law, breads and grains sold in the United States are also now
specially fortified with added folate to help ward off birth
defects.

The highlights of the findings are that

The researchers found that men who had the highest
intake of folate had the lowest incidence of sperm
abnormalities. In fact, men who had the highest intake of
folate -- 722 to 1,150 micrograms a day -- had a 20
percent to 30 percent lower frequency of several types of
sperm abnormalities, compared with men who consumed
less folate.

Article Continues Below

Up till now, birth-defect researchers have typically
focused on women's diet in the period around
conception, Eskenazi said. "Based on these data, maybe
men, too, need to consider their diet when they are
considering fathering a child," she said.

Although this study doesn't conclusively prove a link
between folate and chromosomal abnormality, the study
advises men who are thinking of becoming fathers to
increase their folate intake, perhaps with a supplement or
a multivitamin containing folate.

This isn't the first study to find a link between diet and sperm
health. A report published last year in Human Reproduction
found that women who ate beef 7 or more times per week
tended to produce sons with lowered sperm counts, perhaps
due to the effects of hormones or pesticides on developing
testes.

One expert agrees that healthy eating is linked to having
healthy babies -- even for men.

Update:

One Big Caveat--Folate Does Not Help Men with Prostate
Cancer

Even though folate appears to have a positive effect on the
quality of a man's sperm, it should not necessarily be taken as
a supplement by men who have prostate cancer. In fact,
starving your body of folate may help to slow down the
progression of prostate cancer, according to a 2011 study
from researchers at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in
Buffalo, New York.

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Dark, leafy greens such as spinach
are high in folate.

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