Why a vegetarian diet may leave a man less fertile : LC Research/Media Forum : Active Low-Carber Forums

#1 ^

Wed, Jul-23-08, 17:12

alisbabe

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Why a vegetarian diet may leave a man less fertile

Quote:

Too much tofu could affect a man's fertility, scientists warn.

Researchers have found that eating even a modest amount of soya products - which are popular with vegetarians - could significantly lower your sperm count.

Men who ate an average of half a serving of soya food a day had lower concentrations of sperm than those who did not, the study found. And for those who were overweight or obese, the effects were more pronounced.

Low sperm count is known to make it harder for a man to conceive.

It is thought that soya compounds called isoflavones, which mimic the female sex hormone oestrogen, are behind the effect. Animal studies have linked a high consumption of isoflavones with infertility.

But until now there has been little evidence of their impact on human reproduction.

In the latest study, U.S. researchers found that those with the highest soya intake produced much less sperm than those who ate none.

Led by Dr Jorge Chavarro, from the Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston, they questioned men about consumption of 15 soya-based foods. These included tofu, tempeh, soy sausages, bacon, burgers and mince, soy milk, cheese, yoghurt and ice cream, and soya products such as roasted nuts, drinks, powders and energy bars.

Men in the highest intake group had an average soy food intake of half a serving per day.

The association between soya consumption and sperm count may be stronger for those who were obese or overweight, because their bodies produce more oestrogen than slim men, the researchers believe.

For those with higher sperm counts, the effect was also stronger. Dr Chavarro said: 'The implication is that men who have normal or high sperm counts may be more susceptible to soy foods than men with low sperm counts.'

In the journal Human Reproduction, the researchers concluded: 'We found an inverse association between the consumption of soy foods and sperm concentration which was more pronounced at the higher end of the sperm concentration distribution and among overweight or obese men.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...an-fertile.html

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#2 ^

Wed, Jul-23-08, 22:14

fujiwara

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And remember that we're all supposed to go vegetarian to save the planet! Perhaps the goal is to render us all unable to reproduce.

#3 ^

Thu, Jul-24-08, 00:07

LCivility

Registered Member

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Uh, actually, men don't "conceive." They engender; women conceive.

Perhaps if the men ate enough tofu?

#4 ^

Sun, Aug-03-08, 01:56

bsheets

Faux-foods=Doh!Foods

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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Soy products reduce sperm count: study

Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:00am AEST
ABC News

Eating or drinking a lot of products containing soy and isoflavones can result in reduced sperm count among men, a Harvard School of Public Health study has shown.

"There has been a lot of interest on whether soy affects fertility because many studies in animals suggest that this is the case, but there are very few studies in humans," researcher and lead study author Jorge Chavarro said.

"This only the third study to look at whether soy food has a relationship with fertility in humans and the first one to find an association in agreement to the animal studies," he said.

Soy contains isoflavones, an organic compound which acts like female hormones and appears to impede a man's ability to produce sperm.

"Isoflavones are structurally similar to estrogen and can mimic the action of estrogen in the body," Dr Chavarro said.

"Soy is expected to have estrogen-like activity in many organs and tissues which can be beneficial for some things but it's certainly not beneficial for sperm production, at least that's what animal models suggest."

The Harvard study examined the soy intake of 99 men, determined to be part of couples experiencing fertility difficulties, over the course of three months.

"There was an inverse association between soy food intake and sperm concentration that remained significant after accounting for age, abstinence time, body mass index, caffeine and alcohol intake and smoking," the study said.

Those who ate the most soy had 41 million sperm per millilitre less than men who did not eat soy.

An average man has between 80 million and 120 million sperm per millilitre.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/.../30/2318655.htm