There is an old saying in China, "sour for a son, spicy for a daughter," which suggests that a mother's diet can influence the gender of her baby. In South Africa, there's a similar belief that "salt for a boy, sugar for a girl," which has recently been confirmed by scientists. According to a report by the UK's Daily Mail on November 29th, South African scientists believe that eating red meat and salty fast food leads to having boys, while eating chocolate helps in having girls.
Scientists at the University of Pretoria in South Africa recently conducted an experiment on animals and found that when a high-sugar diet was consumed, more female offspring were born than male; when blood sugar levels remained normal, the offspring were roughly an equal mix of males and females. The lead researcher, Professor Elissa Cameron, stated that the results of this experiment also apply to humans. [Food China]
The researchers explained that a baby's gender is determined by a chromosome in the sperm: the X chromosome for a girl and the Y chromosome for a boy. A man's diet can alter the ratio of sperm carrying X or Y chromosomes. Furthermore, diet can also affect the uterine environment, making it more suitable for sperm carrying the X chromosome or the Y chromosome.
Professor Cameron stated that based on the latest research, the possibility of the saying "diet affects gender" has greatly increased.