Low Sperm Count Link To Beef-Eating

US - Low sperm counts have been linked to mothers eating large amounts of beef.
calendar icon 28 March 2007
clock icon 1 minute read
Researchers in the US found that men whose mothers who ate beef more than once a day had significantly reduced sperm concentrations.

Sons of high beef consumers were three times more likely to have sperm counts low enough to be classified as sub-fertile.

One leading British fertility scientist commenting on the findings described them as "alarming".

The exact cause of the association remains a mystery. But experts are pointing the finger of suspicion at growth hormones used to fatten up cattle.

Six of the chemicals are still commonly used by cattle farmers in the US and Canada. However, all growth promoters were banned in the European Union in 1988.

Animal studies have suggested that eating meat containing growth hormone residues can affect fertility.

The US scientists, led by Professor Shanna Swan, from the University of Rochester in New York State, studied 387 men born between 1949 and 1983.

Source: Channel 4
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