I hope they post this at the BottomLineSecretsDailyHealthNews archive; I’m only going to paraphrase and excerpt it here as I do try to respect copyright.

In their Daily Health News email newsletter, an article recently stated that, in a study comparing the sperm quality and diets of 30 men who came in to a clinic for infertility treatment and 31 men who had no sperm quality issues, the men who had an antioxidant-rich diet (read: lots of fruits and vegies, whole grains, they specify low-fait dairy and less meat/protein) had better quality sperm, while those with poor quality sperm had fewer fruits and veggies in their diets.

I know the nourishing traditions style diet emphasizes full fat dairy and eating/making soup of meats/bones, so I was curious about that particular issue.

Here’s an excerpt from the article that intrigued me.

...less meat and full-fat dairy products. When I contacted Dr. Mendiola, he told me that one problem with the latter diet, rich in full-fat dairy and meat products, might be related to xenoestrogens (endocrine disruptors) that result from the growth-enhancers the animals are fed. If not combatted by a diet filled with antioxidants, these could negatively affect semen quality.

So really it’s not the fat in the diet, but the xenoestrogens/growth enhancers fed to the animals that are perhaps part of the problem here.

If there ever was a call to eat all-naturally fed meats, whatever you want to call the animals’ diet (grass-fed, free-range, etc. etc.), this is it.

What was even more disturbing to me was the following:

There has been concern about poor semen quality throughout Europe in the last 50 or so years. For instance, it is estimated that 40% of the young men in Denmark have semen quality that is below levels for optimal fertility. Dr. Mendiola speculates that this may be related to environmental or occupational pollutants, changes in lifestyle, exposure to toxins and dietary habits. His team is now planning a randomized controlled trial to corroborate how having a healthier diet would improve quality of semen.

Perhaps the much touted low reproduction rate in “developed” countries is not so much related to a desire for fewer children, but the diets of the parents preventing conception?

Wow. I am amazed, and concerned. How does one reverse this trend, other than our personal choices as to what we eat?

Laurel