Infertility-Fungus?

I love it when people “get it!”  I received a note on a copied page of a Medicinal Plants book from Michael in Spring Hill, Florida the other day and grinned from ear to ear as I read it.   Michael gets it!

His highlights referenced a plant named Gossypium herbaceum, that’s cotton to you and me!  Each yellow highlight was clearly thought out .  To my loyal following of “get its” and “don’t get its,” if Michael were here, I’d ask him to explain the relevancy of each highlight…because they are hugely relevant! 

The medicinal qualities of an oil isolated from cotton (cottonseed oil) are apparently twofold; inducement of menstruation and thanks to real human studies some time ago in China, we now know that cottonseed oil behaves as a male contraceptive.  OK, before you guys go out and try this at home, know what Michael knows; the reason sperm are slowed or killed is because of fungal mycotoxins in the cotton, most likely of the Aspergillus species.  Cotton just happens to be one of the most common fungal infected plants on this earth.

Chinese men who ate food cooked in cottonseed oil became infertile.

Published in Mycopathologia in 1990, Egyptian researchers discovered that Aspergillus mold impregnated 87 to 100% of the cottonseed tested.   Long before that, Australian researchers Fisher and Finnie noticed that guinea pig and mice fed fungal pathogens isolated from onion grass became infertile (Nature 215, 1276, 16 September 1967. Vol 10).  As we begin to see this mold/mycotoxin/infertility article offering us convincing evidence of at very least one of the causes of infertility, Michaels article ends with this notation; “Cotton root and seed oil are potentially toxic and should only be used under professional supervision.  Do not use during pregnancy.”

Great work, Michael!  Thanks for helping others understand that sometimes a low sperm or egg count are directly linked with our forks and spoons!  This leads us to this final thought; Fungi and their mycotoxins are known poisons.  They can poison any tissue including blood cells, brain cells or eggs and sperm inside of our bodies and we eat them routinely.  But the biggest problem as Michael and I see it this; this simple and scientific information might be currently know to 20 physicians.  Worse?  I’d wager a bet that if my income was derived by harvesting sperm and eggs and mixing them in a test tube, I maintain a healthy skepticism and even denial about anything published about mold and infertility.  Interesting thing this turf, isn’t it?