- Research found it’s not just women who need to eat well ahead of pregnancy
- The advice follows a study of folic acid, a form of vitamin B, known to be key in the prevention of brain and spine defects such as spina bifida
- Males low in the acid were 30% more likely to have children with defects
- Those wanting to become fathers should ditch junk food, say doctors
By
Fiona Macrae Science Correspondent
11:43 EST, 10 December 2013
|
15:07 EST, 10 December 2013
A potential father’s diet prior to conception can play a crucial part in the health of his future children, new research has found.
Canadian scientists discovered that sperm carries a ‘memory’ of the father’s lifestyle, and is transferred to offspring follow conception.
The scientists said: ‘you are what your father eats’ and advised men thinking about starting a family to lay off junk food and fill up on green, leafy vegetables.
The advice follows a study of folic
acid, a form of vitamin B, known to be key in the prevention of brain
and spine defects such as spina bifida.
Fathers-to-be should eat their tuck into greens such as Brussels sprouts to improve sperm quality and reduce the risk of birth defects, say doctors
Women are advised to take supplements when they are trying to conceive and during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy but it now appears that men also have to think about their levels.
Dr Kimmins, of McGill University in Montreal, compared the health of mice born to fathers deficient in folic acid to that of pups sired by males with normal levels of the vitamin.
All of the mothers had normal levels of folic acid.
To the researcher’s surprise, the mice born to males low in folic acid were almost 30 per cent more likely to have birth defects, including some severe deformities of the spine and skull.
Dr Kimmins said: ‘We were most taken aback by the increased incidence of birth defects.
‘Lots of attention has been paid to a mother’s health pre-conception yet the health of the father has been pretty much ignored.
Green vegetables contain folic acid mice born to males low in folic acid were almost 30 per cent more likely to have birth defects, including some severe deformities of the spine and skull
‘Because men have their fertility
through their life, they think they are good to go at any time and the
focus has been on women because they are the incubators of the
pregnancy.
‘But both men and women need to think about what they are doing pre-conception.’
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, suggests that lack of folic acid makes subtle changes to the chemistry of the sperm’s DNA.
Men who want to be fathers should also cut back on the junk food, say doctors
These then have long-lasting consequences for the development of the unborn baby.
Dr Kimmins said it is too early to advise prospective fathers to take supplements, instead they should eat their greens.
Good sources of folic acid include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, spinach, asparagus and peas, as well as liver, chickpeas and brown rice.
Some breakfast cereals are fortified and mandatory fortification of flour is being discussed.
The advice may be particularly relevant to overweight men and junk food fans, as both being fat and eating fatty food affects the way the body uses folic acid.
Alcohol also interferes with the vitamin. Dr Kimmins said: ‘Young lads out bar hopping need to consider that all that alcohol isn’t going to be good for their future children.
‘Our research suggests that fathers need to think about what they put in their mouths, what they smoke and what they drink and remember they are caretakers of generations to come.’
Allan Pacey, a male fertility expert from Sheffield University, said that previous research has linked folic acid with boosting male fertility.
He said: ‘I wouldn’t suggest men rush out and buy supplements because I think a normal healthy diet will give them the right amount.’Â
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Patrick,
Belfast,
1 hour ago
Sprouts are NOT the only Green Veg!
Bill,
Bacup, United Kingdom,
1 hour ago
I have never eaten greens and have four healthy children
Red,
Manchester, United Kingdom,
29 minutes ago
anamericanman,
london, United Kingdom,
1 hour ago
As an American man living in London, that’s one helluva good excuse for never eating sprouts.
zeus,
mount olympus – greece,
2 hours ago
Sprouts are awesome !
Patrick,
Belfast,
1 hour ago
Hurrumph,
Here,
2 hours ago
So, is this a cynical ploy by the sprout marketing firms in the run up to Christmas????
EVERTONIA,
MERSEYSIDE, United Kingdom,
3 hours ago
Right off to buy a shed load of sprouts!!!..My poor husband thought he only had to endure this horrible Veg on his Christmas dinner…Aww he won’t know what’s hit him, the poor thing.
Patrick,
Belfast,
3 hours ago
Not those “little green balls for ….†Even my dog won’t eat those things…I know….Some people love them. Just like Marmite…..(yuck) but I know, some people like that too….
robertthebob,
London, United Kingdom,
3 hours ago
If you’re a father-to-be, then surely the ‘sperm quality’ train has already left the station.
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