Most couples do a lot of preparation before trying to have a child, such as quitting smoking and alcohol, maintaining a regular daily routine, and supplementing with nutrients. Some foods can reduce the chances of conception, so couples must be careful of these foods!
Foods that affect conception
1. Carrots
Carrots are rich in carotene, various vitamins, and other nutrients beneficial to the human body. Gynecological experts at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in the United States have found that excessive consumption of carrots by women can lead to amenorrhea and inhibit the normal ovulation function of the ovaries due to the large amount of carotene intake. Therefore, women who wish to conceive should not eat too many carrots.
2. Garlic
Excessive consumption of garlic can deplete a person's vital energy and has a significant spermicidal effect. If young people of childbearing age consume too much, it can adversely affect fertility, so it should not be eaten in large quantities.
3. Roasted beef and mutton
Eating roasted beef and mutton is a habit of residents in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and other regions. It was found that some women who love to eat roasted mutton give birth to children with intellectual disability, paralysis, or deformities. After investigation and modern medical research, these women and their deformed children were victims of Toxoplasma gondii infection. People can become infected when they come into contact with livestock and poultry infected with toxoplasmosis and eat undercooked meat from these animals.
4. Sunflower seeds
The protein part of sunflower seeds contains components that inhibit the testes, which can cause testicular atrophy and affect normal reproductive function. Therefore, young people of childbearing age should not eat too many sunflower seeds.
5. Crude cottonseed oil
Long-term consumption of crude cottonseed oil can cause a condition known as "sun sickness," with symptoms that appear after sun exposure, including general weakness, little sweat, hot and flushed skin, palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, blurred vision, numbness in the limbs, and loss of appetite. A more serious effect is the damage to the reproductive system. Experimental studies have shown that after rats were fed a diet containing crude cottonseed oil for about four months, their testes significantly shrank, spermatogenic cells were significantly reduced or even disappeared, the uterus shrank, and the endometrium and glands atrophied. The ovaries showed mild atrophy, and there was mild edema in the renal parenchymal cells. Adult men who took gossypol, an extract of cottonseed oil, at 60-70 mg per day for 40 days had all their sperm killed in a short period, which gradually disappeared from the semen. In women, it can lead to amenorrhea or uterine atrophy. Therefore, young people of childbearing age should not consume it long-term.
6. Alcohol
Scientific research has proven that the main component of alcohol is ethanol. Ethanol can increase the concentration of catecholamines in the body, cause vasoconstriction, incomplete testicular development, and even testicular atrophy. This leads to structural changes in sperm production, insufficient secretion of male hormones like testosterone, and feminine characteristics such as a higher-pitched voice and enlarged breasts. Such men are prone to male infertility, and even if they do conceive, there is a higher possibility of deformities in the next generation. In women, it can lead to irregular menstruation, amenorrhea, abnormal egg production, loss of libido, or cessation of ovulation.
7. Coffee
Researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in the U.S. studied 104 women who wanted to get pregnant and concluded that coffee has a direct impact on conception. Among these women, those who drank more than one cup of coffee a day had only half the chance of getting pregnant compared to those who did not drink this beverage. Therefore, they suggest that if women plan to become pregnant, they should drink less coffee.