After meals: To stop heartburn, chew a mixture of roasted
fennel and cumin seeds.
Between meals: Eat a cup of unflavored yogurt twice daily.
Choose yogurt with a high bacteria count and at least three
types of live bacteria; look for fresh yogurt carrying the
Natural Yogurt Association’s Live and Active Cultures seal.
For flavoring, add banana, which feeds friendly bacte-
ria, or sweeten with stevia. Don’t eat the yogurt with other
food, fruit or sugar, because their ingredients will stimulate
digestive acids that destroy the good bacteria.
Aloe vera juice: Drink a cup twice daily.
Testosterone injections or steroids: Although both raise levels
Chamomile tea: Drink this tea anytime, instead of soda.
of testosterone in the body, they decrease natural testosterone
production in the testes, which is necessary for fertility.
Ginger tea: Brew your own. Cut a one-inch slice of fresh
ginger root and boil it for 20 minutes, add honey and drink
Too much exercise: Strenuous exercise, 10 hours or more a
it twice daily.
week, can lower sperm count. But, 30 minutes of moder-
ate aerobic exercise, five days a week, plus strength training
twice weekly, can improve fertility.
Dr. Omer Kucuk is an attending staff physician
Smoking and drinking:
in the Harper and Detroit Receiving Hospitals at
More than six drinks per week and
any amount of smoking can hinder male fertility. Avoid both.
the Detroit Medical Center. He was also a medi-
cal oncologist and researcher at the Karmanos
Selenium: Too much or too little selenium can decrease fer- Cancer Institute, in Detroit.
tility. The recommended daily dietary allowance of 55 mcg,
in total, from food and supplements, is considered optimal. Maintaining Prostate Health
“Use common sense and have a healthy lifestyle,”
Saw palmetto: This herb can hinder sperm production. advises Kucuk. It turns out that the same diet, exercise and
weight control that will keep a man healthy in all other
To improve a man’s fertility, Groll recommends taking
aspects will also reduce the risk of prostate cancer.
these supplements:
Lycopene, abundant in tomatoes, offers additional
• Carnitines: 2 g daily of L-carnitine
protection. “Lycopene is more available in cooked toma-
and 1 g daily of acetyl-L-carnitine
toes, such as tomato sauce, paste or juice,” notes Kucuk,
“but fresh tomatoes are also beneficial.” Based on research
• CoQ10: 100 mg twice daily
to date, he recommends eating two servings of tomatoes
• Lycopene: 2 g twice daily daily, as well as three other vegetables, plus fruits. Plus, he
• Zinc: 250 mg twice daily
notes, “Tomatoes also contain other compounds that have
a synergistic effect, which makes the lycopene more effec-
• Vitamin C: 90 mg daily; 120 mg daily for smokers
tive.”
• Vitamin E: 22-23 IU (international units) daily
For benign prostate hyperplasia, saw palmetto and
nettle root extracts have been found to reduce nighttime
Dr. Anil Minocha is the director of digestive bathroom visits and other symptoms safely. Saw palmetto
diseases and nutrition at the University of Missis-
also has been used effectively by itself to treat the condi-
sippi Medical Center, in Jackson. A gastroenterol-
tion. But, if you are trying to have a baby, avoid saw pal-
ogist and nutritionist, he is the author of Natural
metto.
Stomach Care.
Reduce risk of prostate cancer: Try 5 mg of a tomato
extract, such as LycoMato (sold in supplements and used in
Stopping Heartburn
some lycopene studies).
“Heartburn is a symptom of reflux,” advises Minocha.
“Reflux occurs in everyone, every day,” he adds, although
Treat benign prostate hyperplasia: Try 320 mg of saw pal-
not everyone experiences the unpleasant burning sensation
metto extract daily, alone or in combination with 240 mg
in the center of their chest that may rise up to the throat. He
nettle root extract daily. Expect results in about six weeks.
explains that heartburn is usually caused by acidic gastric
juices moving up from the stomach into the esophagus.
Vera Tweed is a freelance health journalist and author of
Minocha recommends these remedies:
User’s Guide to Carnitine.
18 Northern & Central New Mexico
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