Organic Diets May Increase Fertility

Source: Steve Meyerowitz aka Sproutman, www.Sproutman.com

Many commonly used pesticides are either known or suspected of disrupting human hormones—including Atrazine, benomyl, carbendazim, carbufuran, dimethoate, DDT, lindane, and synthetic pyrethroids, to name a few. Vinclozolin, for example, causes male rats to develop female sex organs and delays puberty. Carbendazim disrupts the production of sperm and damages testicular development in adult rats. It also has been found to damage development in the womb.
                          
Concern about these chemicals may well be enough to persuade shoppers to go organic. But more than that, organic diets may actually enhance fertility. A study published in The Lancet in 1994 found that organic farmers had sperm counts twice as high (363 million per milliliter) as a control group of welders and printers (164 million). A follow-up 1996 report in The Lancet looked at sperm quality and found that conventional farmers had a significantly lower proportion of normally shaped sperm than organic farmers.

Animal studies on bulls, mice, chickens, and rabbits have also tended to confirm the benefits of an organic diet. Organically fed chickens, for example, produce more eggs (192 vs. 150), lay twice as many fertile eggs, and the eggs are heavier and keep longer. (Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 1989.)
 
Steve is a health crusader and author on ten books, including The Organic Food Guide. He has been featured on PBS, the Home Shopping network, QVC and TV Food Network. He has written for Better Nutrition, Prevention, Organic Gardening and House & Garden magazines.