A diet with sufficient amount of products rich in folic acid prevents formation of defective sperm; thus, it helps reduce the risk of chromosomal anomalies in newborns. Such conclusion was reported by scientists from the University of California after they conducted a special study on the subject. The researchers selected and analyzed the information on the diet and consumption of vitamin supplements of 89 healthy non-smoking men. Later the scientists examined samples of participants’ semen.
After comparison of the received information, the scientists concluded that consumption of the folic acid in large doses prevents aneuploidy – presence of defective sperm with extra chromosomes or with shortage of chromosomes. The study showed that among men who consumed the largest doses of folic acid (the dose ranged from 722 to 1150) aneuploidy was observed by 20-30% less than in the participants who received low levels of folate. Brenda Eskenazi, the head of the study, announced those results.
According to the statistics, semen of a healthy male on average contains 4% sperm with abnormal number of chromosomes. Aneuploidy can result in infertility and miscarriages. Also, this disease can lead to the children being born with such diseases as the Down’s syndrome, Shereshevsky-Turner syndrome, and Klinefelter’s syndrome.
Eskenazi reported that this study is the first one to demonstrate that the diet of the future father can play a key role in whether the baby will develop properly. Specialists note that it is recommended for American men over 19 to consume 400 micrograms of folic acid on daily basis. The head of the study also noted that if a man is planning to conceive a baby with his partner soon, he is recommended to consume even higher doses of this vitamin.
Common sources of folic acid for human body are such foods as leafy green vegetables, beans, whole-bran bread, yeasts, and liver. In some countries producers of bread and other bakery products are bound to enrich them with folic acids. Moreover, pregnant women are also recommended to take this vitamin, since it helps prevent defects in the neural tube even on the earliest stages of development (such as intrauterine development of the child).