New research from Spain supports common sense. 60 men attending fertility clinics were studied to correlate diet links to healthier sperm. The study found that men who ate more carbohydrates, fiber (veggies/fruit), folate (greens, broccoli, oranges), vitamin C (fruit) and lycopene (tomatoes), and ate less fat and protein, had healthier sperm.
Research conducted by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center found that 50% of men taking anti-depressant medication-Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRI's), Specifically Paroxetine (trade names Seroxat and Paxil), have increased DNA fragmentation thus reduced ability to conceive.
Li Dou (藜豆) also know as velvet bean as been shown in recent research to reduce psychological stress, return the testicular oxidative defence system and incease sperm count and motility.
A study involving 51,000 couples showed that men in these infertile couples had a 60% higher chance of developing testicular cancer.
Male menopause, andropause, androgen deficiency, testosterone deficiency... Whatever the name, a brief article on this recently recognised and publicised male disorder. Is testosterone replacement a cure for you.
ICSI has dramatically increased as part of the IVF process. A useful process, but is it always necessary? Basically, if the sperm is healthy and within normal parameters, it isn't and can add greatly to your IVF bill. Not only this and something that is unfortunately often ignored is that many couples of course want the closest means possible to a natural selection of egg and sperm. On the other hand it can be a useful tool to select healthy sperm in men with low morphology or genetic disorders. Then again, there are no treatment options to improve sperm quality in western medicine. Either way, the more informed choices the better.
Congee RecipePreparation
You can make as much as you want and adjust the flavour to suit you. But here is a standard recipe for 4-6 people.
1. 2-3 cups of rice in pot. Fill with water 4-5 litres and boil.
2. While the rice is boiling (it will take over an hour to prepare) chop ginger thinly about the size of a match stick until you have an amount about a hand full, and put in with the boiling rice.
3. Add around 1 tbl sp of salt, 1 tbl sp/1 cube of stock and 1 tbl sp of sesame oil to rice.
4. In a seperate pan heat olive oil and add 2 cloves of chopped garlic. When oil is hot add 100g of minced pork. Stir the pork separating the pieces into small pieces and cook until done.
5. Add the minced pork to the boil.
6. Boil congee for around an hour, or until you get a thick glutinous soup with very soft rice.
7. When ready to serve, add fresh lemon juice, a splash of fish sauce, freshly chopped spring onions and garnished with crispy shallots (Malaysian/Indonesian style) or beef floss.
Ready to eat... Yum yum!!
Winter
