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Fatty foods may be a cause of infertility
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Recently, the media has been devoting a lot of time to a healthy lifestyle and proper nutrition. There are a large number of TV programs, magazines, and articles that convince people to pay attention to their diet and reduce the amount of fatty and heavy food consumed. Not long ago, scientists discovered that high-calorie and fatty foods negatively affect the number and speed of sperm, which can even cause male infertility.
At the University of Copenhagen, specialists conducted a study on the influence of food on the male body. To the surprise of doctors, fatty foods not only have a destructive effect on the cardiovascular system and the musculoskeletal system, but also have a direct negative effect on the "quality" of sperm.
700 men aged 20-25 were asked about the foods they ate over a three-month period. The young men then underwent various tests, including a sperm analysis. A team of Danish doctors studied the test results in detail and drew parallels with the foods they ate. The conclusions were obvious: young men who overindulged in fatty and high-calorie foods had 40 percent less sperm than those who ate a balanced diet. In addition, the concentration of sperm per milliliter was also 35-38 percent less.
It has not yet been possible to determine the reasons for the relationship between body fat and sperm count, but the connection between lifestyle, nutrition and sperm "quality" is more than obvious. This problem requires more careful study, but it is already worth paying attention to what you eat, because healthy offspring in the future and the absence of problems with fertilization are at stake.
In order to reduce the risk of heart disease, avoid disorders in the functioning of internal organs, and increase the chances of having healthy offspring in the future, it is not necessary to adhere to a strict low-calorie diet. It is enough to limit the consumption of such products that contain saturated fats: all kinds of fast food, French fries, industrial mayonnaise, butter.
Some studies conducted by scientists from Western European universities show that over the past 30 years, the average number of active spermatozoa in the male population has fallen by almost half. Doctors are inclined to think that such results are a consequence of the fact that male representatives have become less careful about their diet, which leads to both premature chronic diseases and infertility.
This is not the first time that the influence of food on human sperm has been discovered: several years ago, scientists from Brazil noticed that men who daily eat fresh vegetables, grains, legumes, and fruits have more active sperm than men who prefer meat and simple carbohydrates.
Danish scientists are not going to stop their experiment: the next step will be to try to find out the reason for the relationship between food and sperm “quality”.
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