haha, i have been saying this for years!

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/03/27/sperm.beef.reut

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6496977.stm

BBC article:

Quote :

"Beef diet 'damages sons' sperm' Scientists have produced evidence to suggest that Europe was right to ban the beef industry from using growth promoters to increase yield. A US study has linked use of the chemicals to damage to human sperm. The University of Rochester found men whose mothers ate a lot of beef during pregnancy had lower sperm counts. The Human Reproduction study found they were three times more likely to have a sperm count so low they could be classified as sub-fertile. It confirms that Europe was justified to ban the use of these hormones when they did Dr Allan Pacey University of Sheffield The use of growth promoting chemicals was banned in Europe in 1988. But although the US banned the use of some growth promoters in 1979, others, such as the sex hormones testosterone and progesterone, are still in use in the beef industry. The Rochester team examined sperm counts among US men born between 1949 and 1983. They found those whose mothers ate more than seven beef meals a week had an average sperm concentration of 43.1 million sperm per millimetre of seminal fluid. In contrast, the sons of mothers who ate less beef had an average of 56.9 million sperm. [my note: 24.3% difference] Fertility threshold GROWTH PROMOTERS Six growth promoters are legally in use in the US: Natural steroids: estradiol testosterone progesterone Synthetic hormones: zeranol trenbolene acetate melengestrol acetate Among sons of mothers who ate a lot of beef, 17.7% had a sperm concentration below the World Health Organization sub-fertility threshold of 20 million sperm per millimetre of seminal fluid. The figure for the sons of lower beef consumers was 5.7%. Lead researcher Professor Shanna Swan said the findings suggested that exposure to growth promoters contained in the beef eaten by the boys' mothers was to blame. However, she admitted the research team had no specific data on which chemicals the meat contained, and conceded other possible causes, such as exposure to pesticides, or lifestyle factors could not be ruled out. She said: "Theoretically, the foetus and young children are particularly sensitive to exposure to sex steroids. "Therefore, the consumption of residues of steroids in meat by pregnant women and young children is of particular concern." Professor Swan said to pin down the role of growth promoters the study would have to be repeated in men born in Europe after 1988. Damaging effects EU POSITION Hormonal growth promoters banned in EU in 1988 UK government runs a system of surveillance for residues of such substances in UK cattle to monitor compliance with the ban EU law bans meat from hormonally treated animals being exported to the EU by non-member countries Dr Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield, said: "Even though males don't start producing sperm until puberty, it is during the time in their mother's womb, and in the early years of their life as an infant, that the testicles develop their capacity to produce sperm. "Scientists have been concerned for a number of years that oestrogen mimicking chemicals in water supplies, plastics or make-up can affect the critical stages in the development of young boys' testicles. "In extreme cases of exposure, this could lead to sperm counts in adult men that are low enough to be the cause of infertility "That hormones given to cattle might have lowered the sperm counts of adult men because their mothers ate a lot of beef when they were pregnant with them is alarming to say the least. "But it confirms that Europe was justified to ban the use of these hormones when they did." Professor Alastair Hay, an expert on environmental toxicology at the University of Leeds, said one weakness of the study was that it relied on women being able accurately to recall how much beef they had eaten during pregnancy - something which may have happened many years earlier. "

And yeah, I know what the linitations of the study are, so don't tell me about them.

3/28/2007 3:11:48 AM

I read that as

Y'all are impo tent!



like important... but pronounced as buckwheat would say it.

3/28/2007 3:44:18 AM

Quote :

"They found those whose mothers ate more than seven beef meals a week had an average sperm concentration of 43.1 million sperm per millimetre of seminal fluid. "

seven beef meals a week? That seems like a lot more than anyone that I know eats.

[Edited on March 28, 2007 at 6:05 AM. Reason : ]

3/28/2007 6:03:53 AM

haha nvm

[Edited on March 28, 2007 at 6:17 AM. Reason : .]

3/28/2007 6:17:15 AM

good thing my family used to get most of its meat from cows that we owned

3/28/2007 6:50:07 AM

I guess its quite possible if you had a fast food burger every day for lunch during the week and had spaghetti or lasagna with beef in it.

That said, its somewhat difficult to find the time to eat beef at least once every day on even a semi healthy diet.

3/28/2007 6:50:17 AM

the use of single quotes in that title confounded me for a bit

3/28/2007 7:51:22 AM

My mom is a vegetarian. I'm going to call her and thank her for making my girlfriend chew before she swallows.

3/28/2007 8:10:52 AM

Sounds good to me, not like we need a ton more kids running around anyways, hell i say we start promoting this sorta thing for say china and india while we are at it

3/28/2007 8:42:42 AM

"foetus"

3/28/2007 8:45:18 AM

How the @$#%%#^ do you eat 7 beef meals per week?!
I love beef (mmmm.......beef).....but 7 times per week? That's ridiculous.

This is one of those studies that should be fairly obvious.
NEWSFLASH: IF YOU DRINK 16 GALLONS OF WATER PER DAY YOU'LL PROBABLY DIE.

3/28/2007 8:45:21 AM

i'm as calm as a hindu cow

3/28/2007 9:29:02 AM

So what?

Right now,

a low count could do nothing but benefit me.


I'm not trying to pull a theDuke866

3/28/2007 9:31:28 AM

I want a lower sperm count.

3/28/2007 10:02:07 AM

sounds like a bunch of bullshit hippie propaganda. Are vegans the only people pumping out babies anymore? I seriously doubt it. Besides, they draw absolutely no link between people eating beef and the beef either containing exogenous hormones or being a factor. for all we know, there could be some preservative in the ketchup and heinz 57 they put on the beef that caused the correlation.

besides, how are you going to convince cattle farmers not to use growth implants when they get paid by the pound for the cow? a simple injection of zeranol, estradiol, and trenbolone can easily add more than 25% body weight to the cow, and the meat is leaner also.

growth implants are always injected into a region of the cow that is not for human consumption anyway.

3/28/2007 10:38:06 AM

Quote :

"20 million sperm per millimetre of seminal fluid"

Im sure im dumb, but can anyone explain a millimetre of seminal fluid?

3/28/2007 10:41:09 AM

^ a skeet (singular)

3/28/2007 12:23:46 PM

"foetus"

3/29/2007 9:56:38 AM

Quote :

"^ a skeet (singular)"

lmao

3/29/2007 10:10:25 AM

It's not surprising that beef fucks you up.

You know why there is a minimum cooking temperature for beef?

Because it gets splashed with shit during the slaughter process.

3/29/2007 10:11:17 AM

^so how come there is a minimum cooking temperature for every other meat also? do you think they get basted in shit during the slaughter process?

beef slaughterhouses in the US are incredibly clean, especially when compared to chicken and pork.

3/29/2007 1:26:58 PM