Pregnant? Eat Organic Beef

Hold the beef! Researchers recently reported that women who eat a lot of beef (7 or more servings per week) while pregnant are giving birth to sons growing up to have lower than normal sperm counts! As if we need more population inhibitors.

A team of researchers studied a summary of data on 387 pregnant women and their partners between the years of 2000 and 2005. It turns out, that the sons born to women who ate 7 or more meals with beef each week, had sperm concentrations of 24.3 % lower than those of moms who ate fewer than 7 beefy plates in the same time span.

Why? The pesticides, hormones, and contaminants found in cattle feed may be to blame. Because these chemical contaminants in feed or grass can build up in the fat of animals that eat it, they are passed on and absorbed into our systems when we devour the finished product. Cattle are also routinely given hormones (like estrogen) to boost their size, and that of the farmer's pocketbook. It is already known that in rodents even tiny amounts of estrogen received while in utero can affect the sperm count of offspring.

Of the 51 men whose mothers remembered eating the most beef, 18 % of them had sperm counts classified by the World Health Organization as sub-fertile. And, it turns out, the more beef their mothers ate, the lower the sperm count got.

This type of study, called a retrospective study, is not as powerful as a study that follows people in real-time. But it is believed that women can remember fairly accurately what they ate while pregnant, due to the worry that some experience with morning sickness, and the close monitoring by doctors. The research group now wants to test young men living in the European Union, where hormones have been banned in beef since 1988, to see how they compare.

If you're expecting a baby, especially if you're expecting a boy, you might want to steer clear of beef, and opt for lean proteins like fish and chicken, unless you can get organic beef from that contains no chemicals. Check your local market, and don't be scared to ask, you have a right to know.

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