The Hemp Connection + perfect body

For better fertility, treat your husband like a stallion!

Some things simply do not happen by accident.

I was on a flight from Chicago to Boston yesterday and struck up a conversation with the man sitting next to me. It turned out, he is a veterinarian who does a lot of work with horses. He asked about my profession, and I gave him the Cliff Notes version, telling him that I did a lot of work with infertility.

Without even having a chance to mention that my friends think I am obsessed with omega-3 fatty acids to the point of often being teased about being the"Fish Oil Queen," he said to me,"Nutrition is very important for fertility in horses. Especially omega-3's."

Turns out, he said, the process of breeding horses is so expensive (if you thought an in vitro procedure emptied your wallet, start pricing stud services!!), that there is a lot of pressure to"get it right" as quickly as possible. And research has discovered, that omega-3 fatty acids are particularly important as part of the success formula.

I commented that it was interesting that in humans the fertility research seemed to focus on the females, while in equine science, it tended to focus on the males. He just smiled and said…"Your women need to be feeding their priceless stallions as well as they feed themselves!"

Here is an excerpt from an equine article I found at http://www.horses.com/. You will have to register to access their other articles, but it is worth the time. Hopefully some day our own nutrition will be as important as veterinarians have found it to be in animals.

Squires said sperm quality problems can increase when artificial insemination with cooled or frozen semen is involved. The problem stems in part from the fatty acids found in equine sperm. Bull sperm contains high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids that enable them to withstand the rigors involved in freezing. Horses, on the other hand, have sperm that is high in omega-6 fatty acids, which hinders sperm ability to be cooled and frozen, and the sperm is low in omega-3 fatty acids. The most important omega-3 fatty acid is docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). An omega-6 fatty acid found in semen is docosapentaenoic acid (DPA).

Squires said in semen, the fatty acid profile of stallions is similar to that of boars (male hogs). Studies in boars have shown that a high DHA to DPA ratio in semen results in enhanced fertility, whereas higher levels of DPA relative to DHA result in reduced fertility.

He said fresh grass is high in DHA, but unfortunately, a lot of stallions are fed hay and grain.

"Men that have reduced fertility have also been shown to have lower levels of DHA in seminal plasma," Squires noted."The ratio of phospholipids (fats containing phosphorous) to cholesterol in the sperm, and the ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids, determines the ability of sperm to handle the rigors of cooling and freezing. Those species that have high cholesterol to phospholipid ratio have sperm that are very resistant to cold shock and thawing.

"Humans, rabbits, and roosters produce sperm that are very resistant to cold shock and their sperm freezes very well," he continued."Sperm from boars and stallions have very low tolerance to cold shock, and, in general, their sperm freezes poorly. Sperm of bulls have high levels of DHA in the cell, where those of stallions have a high level of DPA. Increasing the ration of DHA to DPA in semen has been shown to increase fertilizing capacity and semen quality. Conversely, reducing the ratio of DHA to DPA was accompanied by a reduction in fertilizing capacity."

He said researchers found that adding omega-3 fatty acids to a stallion's diet resulted in a more fluid condition of the sperm membrane, which, in turn, allowed sperm to handle the stress of cooling and freezing with potentially less damage.

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For better fertility, treat your husband like a stallion! + perfect body