One pack of walnuts a day, and you are the God of fertility?
Last reviewed: 01.05.2024
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Eating 75 grams of walnuts a day increases the vitality, mobility and morphology of spermatozoa in healthy men aged 21 to 35 years, according to the journal Biology of Reproduction Papers-in-Press.
About 70 million couples around the world suffer from infertility, and among them in 30-50 per cent of cases, it is the man who is incapable of conceiving. Some studies have shown that sperm quality has declined in men in industrialized countries, possibly due to contamination, bad habits, and / or western fast foods.
Dr. Wendy Robbins and her colleagues from the University of California in Los Angeles decided to study the issue of increasing polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). They play a crucial role in the maturation of spermatozoa and significantly affect membrane functions, which increases the quality of sperm in men who adhere to the Western style of nutrition.
The best sources of dietary PUFA in this style of nutrition are fish, fish oil, flax seeds and walnuts, the latter of which is a rich source of linolenic acid, a natural plant source of omega-3.
With the support of the California Walnut Commission, Dr. Robbins selected 117 healthy men between the ages of 21 and 35 who ate Western fast food products and divided them into two groups. In the first group, 58 men who will not consume walnuts and in the second 59 men who should eat 75 grams of walnuts a day. Previous studies have shown that 75 grams of walnuts are enough for the level of lipids in the blood to change, and at the same time young people would not gain weight.
Before the beginning of the experiment, and again after 12 weeks, the quality of the sperm of men was analyzed according to the usual parameters of male fertility, including tested for sperm concentration, viability, mobility, morphology and chromosomal abnormalities.
After 12 weeks, the researchers found no significant changes in the body mass index, weight and activity level in both groups. However, in men who ate walnuts, the levels of omega-6 and omega-3, fatty acids, increased significantly, and sperm improvements, increased vitality, mobility and morphology were observed. Also, in men of this group, fewer chromosomal abnormalities were found in the sperm. In the second group, no changes occurred.
Despite the fact that this study shows that eating 75 grams of nuts per day can positively affect the quality of the young man's sperm, it remains unknown whether such a diet will help young people with fertility problems, and whether their reproductive capacity will improve.