Mediterranean diet can harm your fertility, experts warn

It has been commonly described as the “best diet in the world”.

With evidence to prevent dementia, diabetes, heart disease, and even erectile dysfunction, many experts recommend the Mediterranean diet.

But experts say it could potentially harm fertility, if not done correctly.

It could also weaken the immune system and stunt children’s growth and development, says a team led by the University of Oslo, Norway.

They compared the effect of the “healthy” Mediterranean diet with the typical Western diet in 27 British college students.

For a week, all participants ate their usual Western diet of their own choosing, which according to their food diaries was low in fruits, vegetables and wine.

Then they switched to a Mediterranean diet, which includes lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fish, and fats like olive oil and nuts.

Meat, dairy products and saturated fat are consumed in lesser amounts.

Scientists said urine samples contained higher levels of chemicals when participants followed the Mediterranean diet.

This resulted in more than three times the total intake of two key ingredients – the insecticide and the organophosphate.

However, the effects were only seen in those who ate traditionally grown foods.

When participants ate organic foods, that is, foods grown without pesticides, contaminants were reduced by 90%.

Professor Per Ole Iversen (MD), University of Oslo, said: “Observational studies are increasingly showing that the health benefits of increased consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains are partially reduced by the higher exposure to pesticides associated with these foods.

“Our study shows that consuming organic foods allows consumers to switch to a healthier diet without increasing the consumption of pesticides.”

The study, published in the American Journal of Critical Nutrition, did not study the impact that these toxins would have on human health.

But lead researcher Professor Carlo Leifert, a visiting professor in Oslo, said they can affect hormones in the body.

He said many of the synthetic pesticides detected “are confirmed or suspected endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs).”

EDCs are chemicals that can mimic our natural hormones, preventing real hormones from doing their job and disrupting normal fertility, immunity, and puberty, for example.

They are linked to many adverse effects on human health, ranging from cancer to diabetes and obesity.

Professor Leifert said: “There is growing evidence that such toxins can weaken our immune defense system and possibly our fertility as well.

“If hormones become out of balance, they can also have a negative effect on the growth and development of children.

“Conventionally grown fruits, vegetables and whole grains are among the main sources of environmental contaminants absorbed through our food.

“Since a Mediterranean diet is based on such foods, those who eat it have ten times more intake of these contaminants than if their diet had been based on organically grown foods.

“Farmed and wild fish can contain environmental contaminants, but usually in small amounts.”

EDCs are found in the environment and in everyday products, including plastics, food, cosmetics, and detergents, for example.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say that “some of the endocrine disrupting chemicals found in the environment include certain pesticides.”

The study researchers admitted that they did not take into account other factors, such as cosmetics, that the participants could have used and could have affected the results.

Chris Seal, a Newcastle University professor involved in the study, said: “This study provides clear evidence that our diet and the way we produce food can affect the level of exposure to synthetic chemical pesticides and, ultimately, our health. “

Professor Leifert said the findings could explain “the lower incidence of overweight / obesity, metabolic syndrome and cancer” among those who eat organic.