Los Angeles, Dec 16 (IANS): Women alone don't have to consider making changes in their diet when they think about pregnancy. Men too need a balanced intake before planning a child for the offspring's well being.

A group of scientists have discovered that the sperm carries a “memory” of the father’s lifestyle and it is transferred to offspring following conception, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

It has been advised that men thinking about starting a family should be avoiding junk food and filling up on green, leafy vegetables.

The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, suggests that lack of folic acid makes subtle changes to the chemistry of the sperm’s DNA. These then have long lasting consequences for the development of the unborn baby.

“Healthy, full term babies are partly a result of both parents' nutritional status and this is truly something both parents can control....The worst offenders in terms of insufficiency for adults are Vitamin D, Vitamin K, iron, magnesium, copper, Vitamin A, zinc and iodine” said leading nutritionist Sam Christie.

Folic acids helps a lot in attaining good memory and some of the good sources include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, spinach, asparagus and peas as well as liver, chickpeas and brown rice.