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Women are advised to take Folate just before and during pregnancy because it significantly reduces birth defects and it is very much needed for the synthesis of DNA, RNA and proteins in the fetus and many more things for health baby development.
However, a new study has found a link between folate and genetic abnormalities in the sperm of the soon-to-be fathers. In other words, men who have lower levels of the nutrient folate in their diets have higher rates of chromosomal abnormalities in their sperm, which would cause either miscarriages or children with genetic syndromes if that abnormal sperm fertilized an egg.
Folate is a water-soluble B vitamin that occurs naturally in a wide range of foods, particularly liver, leafy green vegetables, citrus fruits and legumes. But because of the modern-day junky diet that includes very little or none of these foods, the synthetic form of folate, folic acid, has been added to variety of foods to help with the deficiency.
On the other hand, that may not be enough when it comes to conceiving a baby and during the development of the baby. And now, in addition to the soon-to-be mothers, a nutritious diet, specifically folate intake, may be beneficial for the soon-to-be fathers as well when it comes to producing healthy offspring.
An estimated 1 to 4 percent of a healthy male's sperm have abnormal numbers of chromosomes, or aneuploidy, which are caused by errors during cell division (meiosis) in the testis. If these abnormal sperm fertilize a normal egg, there would either be a miscarriage or a fetus with a chromosomal disorder.
To read more about this, please visit:
http://berkeley.edu/news/media...folatesperm.shtml
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