TORONTO – Men may want to avoid the fast food lane as new research suggests a fatty diet can affect male fertility.
Diets high in saturated fat could be harmful to sperm, lowering a man’s sperm count and concentration compared to others who eat healthier, researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center say.
For four years, the hospital studied 99 American men, all in their mid-30s who were involved in research on fertility and environment.
Based on the landmark study’s findings, men who are ready to be parents should think twice before they stock up on junk food while doing groceries.
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After researchers considered subjects’ eating habits and samples of semen, results showed that those who ate the most fat-laden foods had a 43 per cent lower total sperm count and 38 per cent lower sperm concentration.
The results were startling, the scientists reported in the journal Human Reproduction.
“The magnitude of the association is quite dramatic and provides further support for the health efforts to limit consumption of saturated fat given their relation with other health outcomes such as cardiovascular disease,” coauthor, Jill Attaman, said in a statement.
Conversely, omega-3 fats, dubbed as the healthy fats found in fish and plant oils, helped men.
Those who ate the most of these “good” fats had slightly more sperm – about two per cent – that were also “correctly formed.”
The study concedes that there may be some gaps in the results: questionnaires might not have accurately shown men’s actual diets and only one semen sample was collected per respondent.
About 71 per cent of the men were also overweight or obese, a factor that could affect semen quality on its own.
“To our knowledge, this is the largest study to date examining the influence of specific dietary fats on male fertility,” Attaman wrote, noting that more work needs to be done to back up her findings.
Her team’s next steps include studying the link between diet and lifestyle to fertility treatments.
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