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Kenyans' love for ugali is unrivaled and is one of the staple foods in the country.
A typical Kenyan enjoys the maize-made food with fried or roasted meat, omena or the popular sukuma wiki.
According to IVF specialist Dr Shaunak Khandwala, contaminated ugali has negative effects as it can cause infertility in men because it contains aflatoxins that can reduce the sperm count.
“Obesity, stress, pollutants in the environment, heavy metals in the food we eat and even ugali can cause infertility. Ugali has what we call aflatoxins that can reduce sperm count,” says Dr Khandwala.
Eating ugali and drinking milk could make men infertile. [Courtesy]
Infertility is defined as not being able to get pregnant despite having frequent, unprotected sex for at least a year for most couples.
It may result from an issue with either you or your partner, or a combination of factors that interfere with pregnancy.
International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in 2016 revealed that eating ugali and drinking milk in Kenya could make men infertile.
The institution pointed out that milk, maize and sorghum sold in Kenya contained high aflatoxin levels.
According to ILRI researchers, 95 percent of the 403 maize samples collected from households and retailers in Nairobi contained aflatoxin.
Medical researchers conducted animal tests on 12 pigs by feeding them with aflatoxin contaminated feed for 60 days.
Findings recorded by the team observed early abnormal swelling of blood vessels in the testicles.
They discovered evidence of degeneration and premature death of sperm cells.
The report showed that the aflatoxin within the testes caused changes that could result in a low sperm count.
