Bad food equals bad sperms

Guys, what you put on your plate may determine the quality of your sperms.  Fries, burger, chips and all those tasty food that are swimming in saturated fat result in low sperm counts and sperms of low vigor. This is according a study by Harvard researchers.

The study looked at the semen quality and the diet of 91 male patients of the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center in Boston. What they found out were as follows:

Men with the highest intake of saturated fat had 41% fewer sperm than men who ate the lowest amount of saturated fat.

Men with the highest intake of monounsaturated fat had 46% fewer sperm compared with men with the lowest intake of monounsaturated fat.

On the other hand, those who eat healthy – especially food rich in polyunsaturated fats such as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids – are more likely to have healthy, vigorous sperms in normal numbers.

“Men who had a higher intake of omega-6 polyunsaturated fats had greater sperm motility, and a higher intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fats was related to better sperm “morphology” — the size and shape of sperm.”

The authors point out that these results provoke some serious thoughts. Not only does a healthy or unhealthy diet affect a person’s health, it may also affect his reproductive potential as well as the health of his offspring. “The dietary pattern of a father-to-be is affecting the composition of the sperm that will be delivering half of the genes to a future son or daughter. So, it’s one more reason to choose our foods wisely.”

The mechanism behind the association between diet quality and semen quality is not clear but the authors speculate:

“Polyunsaturated fats are important components of sperm cell membranes and may influence the ability of sperm to fertilize an egg.”

Food which are rich in the “good” fats are fish, whole grains, some seeds and nuts, and olive and canola oil.