The Trade Off Between Fertility and Longevity, and Causes of Precocious Puberty
A century ago, the age of first menstruation averaged as late as nearly 17. Why is sexual maturity coming so much earlier now? And why do eunuchs seem to live 25 percent longer than non-castrated men?
I mentioned The Enzyme mTOR as an Engine of Aging ( ).
For more on puberty, see:
• Protein, Puberty, and Pollutants ( )
• The Effect of Soy on Precocious Puberty ( )
• Saving Lives by Treating Acne with Diet ( )
For more on fertility, check out:
• Dairy Estrogen and Male Fertility ( )
• The Effects of Hormones in Milk on Infertility in Women ( )
• Male Fertility and Diet ( )
• The Effects of Marijuana on Fertility and Pregnancy ( )
Visit your local public library or book seller, and check out my longevity book, How Not to Age ( ). It’s available in print, e-book, and audio. (All proceeds I receive from the book are donated directly to charity.)
New subscribers to our e-newsletter always receive a free gift. Get yours here: .
Have a question about this video? Leave it in the comment section at and someone on the NutritionFacts.org team will try to answer it.
Want to get a list of links to all the scientific sources used in this video? Click on Sources Cited at . You’ll also find a transcript and acknowledgements for the video, my blog and speaking tour schedule, and an easy way to search (by translated language even) through our videos spanning more than 2,000 health topics.
Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM
Captions for this video are available in several languages; you can find yours in the video settings. View important information about our translated resources:
• Subscribe:
• Donate:
• Podcast :
• Books:
• Shop:
• Facebook:
• Twitter:
• Instagram:
So animal products are good for fertilitty?
Sure, if you think an eight year old girl menstruating is good.
Sure, if you think an eight year old girl menstruating is good.
That’s not what the video says
Not necessarily, if you have Cardiovascular disease and ED you ain’t doing much boinkin. And ironically in many studies men on WFPB diet tend to have higher testosterone levels than omnivores, perhaps due to the boron (boron binds to the androgen binding protein that prevents free flowing testosterone and allows more free testosterone to affect the body in a controlled manner) and antioxidant content which supports testicular function and thus also fertility, also keep in mind the quality over quantity notion. those on healthier diets have less malformed spermatozoa and higher cellular and DNA integrity. Perhaps it is also an evolutionary strategy that if a specimen is unhealthier they need to reproduce faster before they die and thus their body starts adapting to higher sperm count.
I think the reason castration shows longevity is cause less energy is needed to supply the testicles.
For vegans, they probably eat less carbs or too much protein which slows down carb absorption, and that will effect your “sexual energy”. If they do a lot of cardio, that will increase the need for carbs even more, but most will tend not to get enough
there might also be an effect on cerebral blood flow and reduction of testosterone, but idk
with that logic those with less brain activity should live longer, considering brain is the most energy intensive organ in our body.
Also “Vegans eat less carbs and more protein”? in what universe? carbohydrates alone do not increase growth hormone levels and in fact its the opposite, high protein intake increases it. The reason why people without testes live longer is due to lower testosterone which is a growth hormone and a growth hormone regulator, higher cellular growth = lower autophagy and thus lower longevity, more your cells divide in a single cell generation more they accumulate damage.
This is not the first time he has talked about involuntary “castration” like it’s the worst punishment ever but to me it’s a heck of a lot better than spending even a night in jail.
It is too bad you take the idea of someone taking away your basic rights as a human being so lightly and valuelessly. You would rather that some malicious guy who thinks of you as a lesser being than him cut off your ability to bear children that he deems inferior unwanted creatures in society? Get in line! you’d be the only one.
Having someone do something to you involuntarily is jail.
Trade off? This is a win every way you put it
It is an evolutionary trade off, Not a human societal one.
I can confirm that as a vegan man in my midlife years my volume is quite large and my libido is the same as when I was much younger. That alone I’d never go back
Are you a runner?