Impact of Beef on Baby's Fertility

According to the Los Angeles Times report on February 28.Women who ate too much beef during pregnancy, might have sons with 25% fewer sperm, and three times the risk of infertility compared to normal people.

Dr. Shanna Swan from the University of Rochester Medical Center pointed out in the journal Human Reproduction that six growth hormones added to cattle feed in the United States and Canada are: natural steroids estrone, testosterone, and progesterone;artificial hormones trenbolone, and methyltestosterone. These hormones do not fully change through metabolism at slaughter time. From 1954 to 1979, ethinyl estradiol was also added to the feed in these countries. After finding that minks became infertile after eating chicken feces containing this substance, it was banned. The Food and Drug Administration has set limits on the amount of hormones remaining in beef.

Fonsalda said that if Swan's findings are confirmed, these restrictions may need to be reviewed. In 1988, Europe prohibited adding these hormones to cattle feed. The United States was very unhappy about this, believing that Europe wanted to use it as an opportunity to ban imports of US beef containing such hormones. Many studies on rodents showed that even a small amount of estrogen from food in the womb could affect the next generation's sperm count, but no research had been done on humans before. Dr. Swan and her colleagues studied 387 pregnant women in cities like Los Angeles.

Each husband provided his own sperm sample, and their mothers filled out a questionnaire about their dietary habits during pregnancy. Dr. Swan acknowledged that recalling the diet from over 20 years ago might be difficult for these women, but pregnancy may have been an exception."When someone is pregnant," she said, "she will pay great attention to her diet."Researchers asked these mothers how often they ate beef and other meats during their pregnancies. The results showed that on average, they ate beef four times a week, while the intake of other meats was often less. They also found that women who consumed more beef had sons with lower sperm counts. Women who ate beef at least seven times a week saw their sons' sperm count drop by an average of 24.3% compared to normal levels. Men whose wives ate this much beef were three times more likely to consult fertility specialists even if they themselves did not become pregnant. Researchers found that this was unrelated to whether the mother smoked, was employed, or how many children she had given birth to.

There is insufficient data to prove that other meats are also related to this situation. Dr. Scottel noted that these mothers may have inaccurately recalled their dietary habits during pregnancy, "which might lead to bias in the study and no results."This finding for North American women only," Dr. Swan said, "because beef production practices vary across other regions. She stressed that this research needs further confirmation, and it is too early to advise pregnant women not to eat beef. But she also suggested that if a woman wants to be cautious, she could switch to organic beef or other high-protein foods. She emphasized that this research needs further confirmation, and it is currently recommended that pregnant women do not eat beef. However, she also said that if a pregnant woman wants to be cautious, she can switch to organic beef or other high-protein foods. Food.