Vitamin Information Center

Men who have their diet based on green vegetables, fruits and lentils have a higher chance of fathering a healthy child, a new research shows.

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that men with relatively low levels of folate (a B Vitamin) had increased risks for sperm containing either too few or too many chromosome, a condition known as aneuploidy. This condition is connected to failure to conceive, miscarriages, and children born with conditions such as Down’s syndrome, Turner’s syndrome and Klinefelter’s syndrome.

“We looked at sperm to find different kinds of genetic abnormalities. The abnormalities we looked at here were having too few or too many chromosomes,” lead researcher Brenda Eskenazi, a professor of maternal and child health and epidemiology and director of the Center for Children’s Environmental Health at Berkeley’s School of Public Health said, according to the Washington Post.

The researchers analyzed sperm samples from 89 healthy, non-smoking men and questioned them about their daily intake of zinc, folate, vitamin C, vitamin E and beta-carotene. They found men with the highest intake of folate or folic acid (between 722 and 1150 micrograms a day) had 20 percent to 30 percent lower frequencies of aneuploidy compared to men with a lower intake. No correlation was made between the other vitamins and sperm aneuploidy.

The current recommended daily intake of folate for men over the age of 19 is 400 micrograms. Health experts recommend women of childbearing age maintain a healthy intake of folate because it is essential for healthy fetal developmental and to prevent neural tube birth defects such as spina bifida or anencephaly (severe type of brain damage). That’s the reason why folic acid is now added to bread, cereal, flour and other grain products in the U.S.

This study is the first to “say that male diet may be important for healthy offspring as well.”

“The emphasis related to the birth of a healthy baby has been weighted towards the health and diet of women, not just during pregnancy, but before. What we’re finding now is that a nutritious diet, specifically folate intake, may be beneficial for men as well when it comes to producing healthy offspring,” Dr. Eskenazi said.

She also adds that if other studies confirm her team’s findings of the link between folate intake and aneuploidy, scientists may recommend men tale folic acid for at least three months before trying to conceive.

The idea that diet can improve sperm quality is less well established. “There is increasing evidence from a number of studies to suggest that dietary factors can correlate with sperm health. The story so far suggests that dietary factors won’t help you make more sperm, but good diet might just improve that quality of the ones that are made,” said Dr. Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield and honorary secretary of the British Fertility Society, BBC News reported.

The study findings are published in the March 20 issue of the journal Human Reproduction.

In a time of fast food, dinner-to-go and Pizza hot-lines it becomes more and more crucial for people to remember healthy eating in order to stay active, feel good and maintain a healthy weight. For those that already chronically feel sick, fatigued and overweight it is important to review these keys to healthy eating in order to change back to a healthier lifestyle.

1. Eat green. Green vegetables have a huge amount of minerals and dietary fiber in them. The minerals are essential to your health, well being and fighting sickness. Dietary fiber is like the magic pill when it comes to keeping your colon healthy and working efficiently. Greens that are good to eat are spinach leaves, broccoli, lettuce, Brussels sprouts, fresh wheat grass and collards.

2. Get moving. Start with a very small amount but do it continually to build up a habit. When the habit is there you can increase the amount of exercise you are doing. For weight loss the slow increase over time will be more beneficial than a long workout over only a short time period. Exercise has been proven to work as a hunger depressant. Especially a few minutes walking before dinner help keeping the portion size down.

3. Laugh and be Social. When you eat with others you can focus more of your attention on the conversations and the interaction that is taking place. You do not have to rely solely on your food to make you happy. Also, laughing is good for the soul. It defeats stress and works against depression, two major reasons why people overeat and turn to food as their comforter.

4. Drink Water. Somehow we forget this a lot during our busy lifestyles but still you can feel pretty miserable if you don’t drink enough. If you don’t drink enough your body actually starts to store water which will lead to weight gain and will counteract weight loss. Therefore, make sure you are getting your recommended eight cups a day.

5. Get enough Sleep. Most people need about seven to eight hours of sleep a night. When loosing weight and going through physical changes you will be needing more sleep. Not getting enough sleep will lead to fatigue and a craving for high energy foods to keep you going through the day. When you notice fatigue, try a power nap of max. 30min instead of the candy bar.

6. Eat Fresh. Everything that comes in cans, bags, boxes, bottles and so on is processed food and has already lost a large amount of its minerals and vitamins. It still has the same calories as it did fresh, but the quality has degraded. Make sure you get enough fresh food in your diet to fuel your body with all the nutrients it is needing. Always have fresh fruit in the house, keep fresh vegetables in your refrigerator and if you can afford it buy your fresh produce in the organic section. Also, a farmers market is usually the better choice than a big store.

7. Avoid Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils. More and more people are picking up on this. Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils have been linked to many diseases lately. They are being used in pastry to extend its shelf life. Therefore, always check the ingredients before buying pastries and other baked goods.

8. Choose Whole Wheat instead of white flour. The diet expert are screaming it at you all the time. Avoid the white flour. A grain consists of it’s shell, the seed and a starch pocket. In the process of producing flour the grain is stripped of the seed which is fatty and would make the flour turn bad in short time. For white flour the shell is also taken away leaving mainly the starch. In whole wheat flour the shell is left with the starch providing dietary fiber, minerals and vitamins. If you want to use whole wheat flour for baking add about 10% more water to the dough. If you want to compromise use 2/3 whole wheat flour and 1/3 white flour.

9. Say ‘No’ to Sugar. White sugar is so refined that it does not have any vitamins or minerals left. Actually, when white sugar is digested it takes those minerals from the body that it needs to be processed. Sugar has an addictive effect on the body. Some people may have mild symptoms of dizziness, headache and sweating when stopping to consume sugar.

10. Always exchange bad eating habits with good ones. Changing to healthy eating is about exchanging bad eating habits with good one. This is the important thing to keep in mind when pursuing weight loss and health improvement. Take time to think about bad eating habits that you have and instead of ending them, exchange them for good ones. Once you have that good eating habit implemented move on to the next bad habit you have and keep continuing on this path of permanent health.

The first thing you should do before even beginning trying to conceive a baby is to talk to your doctor to see how you measure up health wise. Does he think you need to lose a few pounds before getting pregnant or does he feel you need to gain a few? Your doctor may recommend that you change your eating habits and start exercising. Continue Reading…

The Dairy Calcium Myth Milk is not as high in calcium as the dairy industry would have you believe. In Healthy Vitamins and Minerals by Jane Turner, under the section on Calcium, milk doesn’t even make the first page and sits 35th on the list with 120mg of calcium per 100g.
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Best ways to maintain a healthy, beautiful mane can be found in your own home.

Technically hair is a dead tissue; but it also serves a valuable biological purpose: It keeps your head warm and helps regulate body temperature. Hair, like nails, is an extension of your epidermis, the outer layer of your skin. It is composed mainly of protein ‘Keratin’. Typically, a hair cell falls out or grows out after 3-5 years. And then it gets replaced. But at times, due to lack of proper nourishments, hair roots get destroyed resulting in baldness.
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Hair loss is an inevitable condition that one has to face atleast once in his lifetime. Research has proved that there is a strong connection between healthy hair and a healthy body. That is why when we fall sick it affects our hair too. Nutrients in blood nourish the hair follicles. If hair follicles become weak, hair loses its grip or hold and results into hair fall. These nutrients are vitamins and without vitamins, hair does not become healthy crop.
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