Should men take folic acid?

Folic acid is a good supplement for both women and men. Folic acid can help women have better fertility, so should men take folic acid? In fact, science shows that men should take folic acid because it is very beneficial to sperm. Let's take a closer look.

Many female friends know that they should take appropriate folic acid supplements before having children. However, do men also need to take folic acid supplements before having children? According to research by scientists, men should also take appropriate folic acid supplements before having children. So why do we need to take folic acid supplements? Let us explain the reasons below.

Steps/Methods

Before becoming pregnant, almost every woman is repeatedly told: "Hurry up and take some folic acid to prevent birth defects in your child." But on March 19, the U.S. "Health Day" website and many other media focused on the role of folic acid for prospective fathers: A recent U.S. study showed that folic acid is of great significance to male sperm, and its intake may also affect the health of newborns.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, analyzed the sperm quality of 89 healthy men and recorded their daily intake of zinc, folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E and beta-carotene. The results showed that men with the highest folic acid intake had the lowest chance of sperm abnormalities. "That is, if the daily intake is 722-1500 micrograms, the risk factor will be reduced by 20%-30%."

Brenda Eskenazi, a professor at the Children's Environmental Health Center of the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, and one of the researchers, said that low folic acid levels in men can cause too many or too few chromosomes in their semen. If the egg combines with these abnormal sperm, it may cause newborn defects such as Down syndrome and increase the chance of miscarriage in women.

Li Zheng, director of the Shanghai Human Sperm Bank and chief physician of the Urology Department of Renji Hospital affiliated to the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, said that in recent years, the medical community has been paying attention to the relationship between dietary nutrition and newborn health.

This American study has opened up a new field. "According to the results of this study, men who want to be fathers can supplement folic acid appropriately, such as eating more green leafy vegetables, fruits, and legumes; and men whose wives are already pregnant do not need to be overly nervous, because even men with insufficient nutrition still have 99% normal sperm."

To sum up, male friends should also supplement folic acid appropriately before having children.

Should men take folic acid? This question has been well answered in the above introduction. So men should not take folic acid excessively. When taking folic acid, we must pay attention to the amount. Do not take folic acid excessively. Not only will it not help our male friends, but it will also have great side effects. Please pay attention to this issue.