That's Fit

It's still pretty summery in most places but soon enough fall and winter will be here, which means instead of cranking the A/C on your way to work you'll be hitting the seat-warmer switch.

Or maybe you'll want to think twice about that...

A recent study in Germany found that the heated seats found in more and more vehicles as a luxury option are not only heating people's chilly bums but they're also essentially cooking men's privates and causing them to have significantly lower sperm counts.

Of course this is really only an issue for guys who are trying to have a baby, in which case experts recommend wearing loose undies, making frequent stops on long trips, and trying to use the heated seats as little as possible.

Via Autoblog

Moms who followed a "hearty" diet prior to conception are more likely to give birth to boys, according to a recent study. We touched on this here at That's Fit yesterday, but I thought I would go into some of the details I discovered.

The study found that, out of a group of women who followed a high energy diet (which generally included a daily bowl of breakfast cereal) around the time of conception, 56% had sons. Out of the group that took in fewer calories, including moms who skipped breakfast, only 45% had sons. The women in the first group not only consumed more calories, but but took in a large variety of nutrients.

Not everybody is sold on this theory, but there are some valid points to back up the findings.

If your boys can swim, as George Constanza proudly stated in an episode of Seinfeld, you and your partner may not have much trouble getting pregnant. But, your boys' swimming ability can be hampered by a lack of sex.

It seems that the more often a guy has sex, the better the chances of conception. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine reports that a study on this topic was recently conducted; scientists took samples from 42 men with irregularly shaped, damaged sperm and found that for 88 percent of them, there were fewer damaged sperm in samples taken daily than in samples taken after a three-day abstinence.

Evidently, this down-time is long enough for older sperm to damage newer sperm. The only solution? Have more sex, and have it with more regularity. If only all problems could be cured in this manner, the world would be a much happier place.

I'm going to warn all of you ladies in your late-20s and early-30s who hope to someday have children, that taking this fertility quiz may make cause you to feel the following: depressed, hopeless, discouraged, desperate and fruitless (in more ways that one).

Like a lot of you out there, I'd like to have kids some day but a) would ideally like to do it within a loving and committed relationship, and b) want to wait a bit until I've seen the world, established myself at a job I enjoy and feel ready to not be completely selfish and only think about myself. Unfortunately, I'm nowhere close to accomplishing most of these things and I'm already 28 which, according the quiz, means my fertility rate is starting to decline -- quickly.

Apparently only 1 out of 12,000 respondents got all 15 questions about fertility correct (I think my score was a lofty 12), which isn't very encouraging. You can take the test here and see how well you do, and also learn some interesting and potentially very important facts about fertility and conception. And if any of you out there waited until your mid-to late-30s to have kids and have some encouraging stories to tell the rest of us, please share. It may help ease a few minds that, after reading the information provided, are envisioning a life of dried-up, barren solitude.

Infertility is a heartbreaking issue for anyone who's experienced it. Though there are costly medications and procedures to help, there are also a number of natural steps that a couple or individual can take to increase their chances of conceiving. Hence the appeal of yoga fertility classes, which use poses and practices thought to increase fertility.

Though there's little scientific evidence to show that yoga can help aid conception, I believe it can simply because it can relieve stress and calm one's mind. When a woman is trying to get pregnant while listening to the deafening ticking of her biological clock, she is stressed out, worried and all-too focuses on the task at hand. While I'm no expert, I think that yoga can help put things in perspective and help ease the pressure of anticipation.

What do you think?

Technology has made everything easier.

Apparently even having a baby.

While technology might not be helping with the actual conception; it seems that technology may be an incentive for families in Japan to start having children.

Facing a rapidly aging and shrinking population, Japan's high-tech and high-profile companies are stepping up to the plate and offering workers "baby bonuses" in the form of cash and cell phones.