Main Category: Fertility
Also Included In: Men's health; Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 20 Oct 2011 - 4:00 PDT
email to a friend 
printer friendly 
opinions 
Two studies presented at a conference in the US this week suggest that better diets make for better sperm: one compared a Western diet hight in red meat to one high in fish, vegetables and whole grains and found the latter was linked to higher sperm motility, and the second found that a diet high in trans fats was linked to lower sperm counts.
Dr Edward Kim, President of the Society for Male Reproduction and Urology, said in a statement:
"We are still exploring the impact of nutrition on male fertility, but even these initial studies point to a link between a good diet and reproductive health for men."
From the first study presentation, delegates at the 67th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) in Orlando, Florida, learned how an international team from the Harvard School of Public Health, University of Rochester and the University of Murcia in Spain conducted an analysis of data taken from the University of Rochester's Young Men's Study that recruited men aged 18-22 to fill in questionnaires about their diet and have their semen tested.
The tests took standard measures of semen quality, including sperm concentration, motility (ability to move properly toward the egg) and morphology (having the right shape to penetrate the egg).
In their statistical analysis, the researchers adjusted the results to rule out the potential influence of other factors such as race, smoking status and BMI. They then analyzed the men's results according to two factors: those whose diets were high in intake of red meat and refined grains (the "Western" diet), and those with a more "Prudent" diet, with high intakes of fish, vegetables and whole grains.
The results showed that following a Prudent diet was linked to higher sperm motility, while sperm morphology showed no particular links with diet, and after the researchers adjusted for total calorie intake, neither did sperm concentration.
From the second study presentation, delegates at the meeting learned how researchers recruited men attending the Fertility Center at Massachusetts General Hospital to fill in food journals and agree to undergo semen tests. In this study, a subset of the participants also had their semen tested for trans fats.
The results showed that the higher the trans fats in the diet, the lower the sperm concentration. Such a diet was also tied to higher levels of trans fats in the sperm and the seminal plasma or fluid.
Written by Catharine Paddock PhD
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today
Source: ASRM News & Publications. Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:
MLA
8 Dec. 2011.
Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.
Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.
If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.
All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam)
Contact Our News Editors
For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.
Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:
Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.
