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Using a tablet or smartphone before bed has become even more popular after many people started working remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic. PHOTO: Reuters
Lighting devices interfere with hormonal balance and good sleep.
That the smartphone and tablet should not be used in the bedroom has been proven dozens of times. Their light is known to prevent them from falling asleep, that digging on the internet before going to sleep has a negative effect on the nervous system and even reduces sexual desire.
Yet millions of people around the world fall asleep with devices that keep them connected to the global network. Even the coronavirus pandemic has increased this harmful habit, as much of our activity has moved to the Internet. And if you haven’t been able to do or check something during the day, the minutes before bed are a golden time to catch up.
But Israeli scientists have recently added another reason to make you think twice when you go to bed with a smartphone in hand, especially if you are a man who is about to give birth. Their study showed that electronic devices degrade the quality of sperm. The team from the Institute for Sleep and Fatigue in Tel Aviv studied the habits of 116 men between the ages of 21 and 59, as well as their reproductive abilities. It turned out that in those who often surf the web at night, the sperm are less mobile and in lower concentration. The situation is the same for men who sleep less, leading researchers to believe that there is a connection between the two, but they admit that they need more research on the subject.
However, their initial conclusions are of great interest in the academic field, since in recent years several scientists have tried to identify the factors that negatively affect the reproductive capacities of men. A problem that is still little talked about, although it is the cause of approximately one third of infertility cases. And if the development of reproductive medicine can help to conceive with poor quality sperm, it is still not able to eliminate all the negative factors of the genes that can be transmitted to the fetus.
To our knowledge, this is the first study to find a link between short-wave light exposure and sperm quality, said the leader of the Israeli research team, Dr. Amit Green. Previous studies have shown that the use of lighting devices before bed reduces the release of melatonin, a hormone related to sleep and good sleep.
However, according to American reproductive epidemiologist Dr. Shana Swan, the Israeli team’s results are quite provocative, as they do not distinguish between exposure to lighting devices and duration of sleep. Also, the study is among men who visit an infertility center. Therefore, you believe that you should not rush to conclude that this is the situation with all members of the stronger sex.
“It is clear that exposure to artificial light at night confuses the hormones. So there is nothing wrong with not wearing the devices a few hours before bedtime,” Dr. Swann told the Everydayhealth website.
According to a 2017 international study, the number of sperm and its concentration decreased by more than 50 percent between 1973 and 2011 among men in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The main culprits of this negative trend are believed to be stress, being overweight, lack of sleep and the increasingly frequent intake of processed foods, especially those from fast food chains and semi-finished products sold in supermarkets. . Therefore, scientists advise men in Western countries to return to a diet that includes raw fruits, vegetables, and pre-eaten fish or chicken. Choose products rich in vitamin B12 and vitamin C such as oranges, potatoes, spinach and nuts, the latter being an especially effective helper. A study conducted two years ago among 119 men showed that active intake of almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts, even within a few weeks, increases sperm count by as much as 16 percent.
Another very powerful stimulant for them is lycopene. It is a proven antioxidant and gives a number of fruits and vegetables such as watermelon, tomatoes, red grapefruit, and guava red color. Unlike its other useful ingredients, which lose some of their properties during heat treatment, their concentration increases. And it is much better absorbed by the body when vegetables are eaten cooked like tomato paste.
However, along with a healthy diet, there should be good physical activity, as stagnation of life and being overweight have also been shown to contribute to poor sperm quality and reduce sexual desire. That is why it is good for every man, even if he is not about to conceive a child, to move actively for at least half an hour every day. Strenuous physical activity, especially cycling, jogging and mountaineering, is not recommended as it has been found that deterioration of sperm is observed, which is explained by the stress that the load causes on the body.
The same effect is seen with heavy drinking and smoking. Any amount of more than 4 liters of beer per week, one liter of wine or 350 grams of strong alcohol is considered detrimental to the reproductive capacity of man. In addition, the amount should be distributed evenly throughout the days, and not drunk all at once, so as not to hinder the body’s absorption.
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