A new study by researchers in the US revealed that healthy men who have a diet low in foliate have a higher risk of chromosomal abnormalities in their sperm. Chromosomal abnormalities in sperm are known to cause a range of congenital conditions such as Down syndrome and learning and development disorders.
            The study is the work of scientists at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and is published in the 19th March issue of the journal Human Reproduction.
            Women of childbearing age are encouraged to maintain a healthy intake of foliate because it is essential for healthy fetal development, and to prevent neural tube birth defects such as spinal bifida or anencephaly (severe type of brain damage). That is why folic acid is now added to bread, cereal, flour and other grain products in the US.
But this is the first study to suggest that foliate intake in men may affect their children.
            Paternal diet affects sperm count and motility, which is important for conception, but this new study takes it further to say that male diet may be important for healthy offspring as well
            The results of the study showed that men who reported the highest foliate intake had a 19 per cent lower rate of aneuploidic sperm that men with moderate foliate intake, and 20 per cent lower than men with the lowest foliate intake.
            This information will help set dietary foliate levels that may reduce the risk of miscarriage or birth defects linked to the fathers.
            If further research supports these findings, the researchers suggest it might be a good idea to increase the current recommended 400 micro grams daily allowance of foliate for men hoping to become dads.