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As many of us have long suspected, keeping your cell phone in your pocket all day, every day is really not great for your health.
We now know this for sure thanks to neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, who recently discussed a new study that reveals how putting a phone in your pocket can disrupt male hormones and fertility.
On his latest Huberman Lab podcast, the good doctor, as he puts it, points “out that even for people not wishing to conceive children, optimizing for fertility is the best way to optimize for vitality and longevity. I discuss tools to improve male and female, hormone health and fertility, as well as the things that can disrupt them.”
“I’ve been following the scientific literature on whether or not smart phones disrupt male hormones and fertility for some years now, and the data thankfully are now clear. A recent meta-analysis indicates they do,” he writes in the description of an Instagram video of this part of his latest podcast.
“Note: These effects appear separable from other potential issues related to smart phones, such as the content on them, lack of sleep due to night time viewing etc.,” he continues.
“Smart phones are not going anywhere. One simple way to avoid and reverse the negative affects is to not keep them in your front pocket and ideally to keep them as far away from your body as possible. This is true even when the Wi-Fi is turned off and the phone is turned off.”
Thankfully, not all of the damage your cell phone has been causing down there is permanent.
“If you’ve been carrying your phone in your front pocket for some years now, don’t despair,” Dr. Huberman writes. “The negative effects are likely reversible over time.”
That’s right. While your cell phone may be responsible for lowering both your testosterone levels as well as your sperm count and sperm quality, it can be fixed pretty easily.
If you are still looking to have a kid, stop putting your phone in your front pocket. In fact, it’s not a terrible idea for every guy to do that less often, he says.
And while Wi-Fi and cellular transmissions aren’t good for your junk, it’s the heat that your phone produces that does as much damage as anything.