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Last Updated: May 5, 2009 - 12:58:27 PM |
SATURDAY March 22, 2008 (Foodconsumer.org) -- Men who have low intake of folate may have increased risk of abnormal sperm leading to birth defects, according to a new study published in the March 20 issue of the journal Human Reproduction.
It's been already known that women who have low intake of folate have higher risk of birth defects. The current study means that to prevent birth defects, men also need to have enough intake of folate.
The study by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley showed men with relatively low levels of folate had a higher frequency of abnormal sperm containing either too few or too many chromosomes, which can cause birth defects and miscarriage.
Folate, a B vitamin, is found in leafy green vegetables such as spinach and beans such as lima beans and lentils. Flour and bread are often fortified with this vitamin to help prevent birth defects.
Abnormal sperm can contain two pairs or none of a particular chromosome while the normal one contains one pair of each chromosome. The abnormality of sperm when fertilizing an egg causes a birth defect such as Down's syndrome or miscarriage.
In the study, Brenda Eskenazi at Berkeley's School of Public Health and colleagues surveyed the dietary habits of 89 healthy men and looked at three specific chromosomes in their sperm: X, Y and 21 to examine the association between intake of folate and the count of abnormal sperm.
The considered nutrients included zinc, folate, vitamin C, vitamin E and beta-carotene. The researchers found men who have the highest intake of folate had lowest risk for sperm abnormalities.
Specifically, men who had 722 to 1,150 micrograms a day of folate, the highest intake, had a 20 to 30 percent reduced frequency of several types of sperm abnormalities compared to those who had lower intake.
The results suggested that to prevent birth defects, both women and men should have enough intake of folate, Eskenazi said.
The risk is fairly low though. Men with low intake of folate had four to six abnormal sperm in every 1,000, meaning that more than 99% of sperm are normal, according to the study.
Also this study does not prove a cause-and-effect relationship between folate and abnormalities of sperm, meaning low intake of folate could be a marker of one's lifestyle, which may have an overall impact on the sperm quality.
Men who tend to father a child should consider a healthy diet including lots of folate-containing vegetables, a health observer affiliated with foodconsumer.org suggested. Vegetables, particularly those green leafy vegetables provide not only folate, but also a range of other nutrients such as minerals, fatty acids, vitamins and antioxidants.
The current study on the effect of diet on sperm quality is not the first one. Heathday.com cited a study published in the same journal saying women who ate beef seven or more times per week were more likely than others who had low intake of beef to have sons with lowered sperm counts due to the effect of hormones or pesticides of development of testes.
For more information on folate, read folic acid at Linus Pauling Institute
© 2004-2008 by foodconsumer.org unless otherwise specified
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