Med Health News

Tag: fertility

  • What You Need to Know About Drinking Guava Juice for Fertility

    What You Need to Know About Drinking Guava Juice for Fertility

    Guava juice has been used traditionally to help with fertility issues. But does it really help? The evidence seems to point toward guava juice boosting fertility in both men and women. Here is what you should consider before trying out this remedy:

    Guava Juice and Women’s Fertility

    Researchers found that folate is important to both male and female fertility. In one assisted fertility study, the group of women who took the highest amount of folate daily experienced up to a 20 percent increase in successful births compared with the other groups.

    Folate is abundant in guava juice. If you juice one cup of guavas, you’ll get 20 percent of your daily folate requirements. One glass of guava juice should use more than a few cups of guavas, which means drinking that glass gives you a bountiful amount of folate.

    Guava Juice and Men’s Fertility

    Scientists found that men with idiopathic male factor infertility produced more abnormal sperm that generated more free radicals. These sperm-generated free radicals damage the source and nearby sperm’s cell membranes, DNA, and other cell structures. This causes these sperm to die faster and swim slower, which lowers their likelihood of reaching the egg before expiring.

    They also found that lycopene is one of the best carotenoid antioxidants for fighting free radicals. Lycopene levels and fertility decline with age, but lycopene levels are markedly lower in men with idiopathic male factor infertility.

    They wanted to see if boosting lycopene intake would have an effect on male infertility. They found that giving patients with idiopathic male factor infertility a daily lycopene supplement increased their sperm counts by about 70 percent.

    Like tomato juice, guava juice is filled with lycopene. Lycopene is significantly responsible for giving guava juice its reddish pigment. When researchers gave rats a guava leaf extract, their sperm counts significantly increased.

    From all this evidence, it’s very probable that drinking guava juice will boost male fertility.

    Best Ways to Boost Your Fertility With Guava Juice

    You might dread drinking multiple servings of guava juice – after all, it’s a fruit juice. You’ve probably heard doctors warn that drinking too much fruit juice is a factor in childhood diabetes, which means it must be loaded with sugar. But guava juice has significantly less carbs than most sugary fruit juices. For example, it has half the calories of orange juice and only a fifth of the calories of coconut juice. But these calorie comparisons only hold true if equal amounts of guava are used compared to the alternative fruit juice.

    That means that you shouldn’t feel too guilty about drinking more than one glass of guava juice because it’s like drinking only one glass of orange juice.

    But if you’re not into fruit juices, then you can try enjoying guava leaf tea, which also holds the same fertility-boosting benefits. Teas are warm and soothing, and that can make drinking more than one cup easier to do.

    Drink guava juice for fertility. Its folate content boosts female fertility, while its lycopene content boosts male fertility. But for faster and better results, it’s probably best to ask your doctor if lycopene supplements are something you can supplement with your fertility treatment.

    Sources:

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4172634/
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4023371/
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18163132

  • Cellphones Have Been Officially Recognized as Causing Brain Cancer: Here Are Some Ways to Keep Yourself Safe

    Cellphones Have Been Officially Recognized as Causing Brain Cancer: Here Are Some Ways to Keep Yourself Safe

    In Italy, a court made a decision that might prove medically noteworthy. They found that a man’s brain tumor was caused by cellphone usage. It’s difficult not to use a cellphone in this modern era, so here are ways to help lower your risks for developing cancer.

    Cellphone Use Legally Linked With Causing Brain Cancer

    Robert Romero was required to use his cellphone for three hours daily for 15 years while working for Telecom Italia. He developed a brain tumor and the court found that it was caused by his cellphone usage.

    He was awarded about $7,500 per year in damages for the rest of his life. It’s a weird monetary award from an American perspective because it could be on the low end of the spectrum or on the very high end, depending on whether he dies of old age or gets hit by a car the very next day.

    The legal decision is a silent opening of a floodgate. One consumer welfare group has already started the flood by initiating a class action suit to force all cellphone companies to add a warning label about the risks of brain cancer and cellphone usage.

    But Does Using Your Cellphone Cause Brain Cancer?

    Everyone uses a cellphone, especially now that smartphones are becoming more common and accessible to all ages. Smartphones are becoming a necessity because of their internet capabilities. Many stores have QR codes placed on their wares, which gives shoppers with smartphones a price advantage over those who don’t. But is all this cellphone usage putting everyone at risk for brain cancer?

    The National Institutes of Health conclude that cellphones don’t cause brain cancer, in general. They say that cellphones emit radiofrequency energy that doesn’t damage or change DNA, but does cause nearby living tissue to heat up. After reviewing numerous studies, they found no statistically significant increased risk of brain cancer with normal cellphone usage.

    But they did mention that in more than one study, brain cancer was more prevalent in heavy cellphone users, like Robert Romero. But they haven’t cited any studies that focused on heavy cellphone usage only.

    In a more recent study with rats, heavy radiofrequency energy exposure has been found to cause higher rates of brain and heart tumors. But the study is small, and further research must be done for experts to make a definite conclusion.




    Cellphones Lower Male Fertility

    What researchers are sure of is that being near cellphones or talking on a cellphone lowers male fertility. They found that men who talked for longer than an hour a day on their cellphone or had their cellphones close to their groins for a significant period of time experienced lower sperm counts and lower semen quality.

    What’s the Takeaway?

    It seems like the human and rat studies point to one unofficial conclusion: Using your cellphone for longer than normal can lead to brain cancer and a decrease in male fertility. The Italian courts state that an hour a day is normal cellphone usage.

    To be safe and lower your risk for cancer and decreased fertility, don’t use or be near your cellphone for longer than an hour a day. If you need to talk on your cellphone for longer than that, use a headset and keep your cellphone a safe distance away, like on the table or a seat next to you.

    To lower your exposure to your cellphone’s radiofrequency energy, don’t keep your cellphone in your pockets, but store them in a carry-on bag. Also never sleep with your cellphone close to your body – keep it on a nearby table.

    How to Naturally Lower Your Risk for Developing Cancer

    It’s highly unpractical for you to avoid your cellphone on a daily basis, especially if you’re a corporate person. But there are healthy ways you can help protect yourself from developing cancer:

    Try to avoid red meat. Harvard finds that one additional serving of unprocessed red meat increases your risk for total mortality, including cancer, by 13 percent. If it’s processed meat, the increased risk is 20 percent!

    Eat vegetables with every meal. Vegetables, especially cruciferous vegetables, are high in antioxidants. These protective compounds circulate through your body once absorbed and neutralize toxins, free radicals, and other cancer-causing pollutants in your system. As a bonus, they also help slow signs of aging.

    Exercise more. Researchers found that exercising more than 150 minutes every week lowers your risk for 17 different types of cancer, including lung, breast, and brain cancer, by at least 20 percent. But you need to be exercising at a moderate intensity level – leisurely walks won’t do, but leisurely jogs fit the bill.

    Incorporating these cancer-protective things into your regular regimen can help offset the increased cancer risk from using your cellphone daily.