By david Liu, PHD

Friday July 13, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- Food consumers are often led to believe fluoride helps prevent dental disease, but know little to none about what this toxic chemical can do to damage their health.

A new study released in the May 2012 issue of Toxicology International suggested that fluoride can signficiantly decrease sperm count, motility, and progressive notility and epididymal weight.

N. Kumar of  Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak, Haryana, India and colleagues tested the effect of fluoride, vitamin D and E on the reproductive system in sixty male rabbits which were equally devided into six groups with each assigned a unique diet.

The researchers found in rabbits exposed to fluoride, vitamin D supplementation improved sperm count, motility, and progressive motility, but the improvement was not sufficient to overcome the side effects of fluoride.

Vitamin E did better than vitamin D in improving the sperm count.  It almost normalized sperm count in those exposed to fluoride.

With both vitamin D and E, both sperm count and motility were restored to almost normal.

The researchers concluded that  "combined vitamin D and E treatment showed a significant improvement in reproductive functions affected by fluoride."