Men, Look out! Western diet you eat might kill your Sperm

Men, look out! Everything you eat relates directly to your reproductive health. A recent study has found a bad diet (read: all junk and unhealthy) can affect and count your sperm quality, and even bring it down. The study, conducted by US researchers, found that young men who consumed daily junk food had a sperm count significantly lower than those who ate healthy food.

The quality of some 3,000 Danish men's sperm was analyzed for the study, taking into account their eating habits. Published in the JAMA Network Open newspaper, the study found that those men who ate lots of pizza, burgers, fries, and sugar foods had 25% lower sperm counts than those who ate veggies, fish, and fruits. In fact, to the 122 million count of unhealthy eaters their sperm count was said to be around 167 million.

In other words, the semen samples were analyzed by researchers between 2017 and 2019, who came to the conclusion that the median total sperm count was 140 million per ml, well within the normal range set by the World Health Organization (WHO) — 40 million to 300 million.The respondents were divided into four food groups: western trend, prudent (healthiest) trend, open-sandwich pattern and vegetarian pattern (low in meat). As already reported, while the healthiest eaters had a count of 167 million, those who ate more vegetarian, with 151 million, followed.

The study reaffirms the fact that food is directly related with men's reproductive health. Indeed, numerous other studies have shown that in the last few decades, semen quality has deteriorated in many western countries.

The study did not include men who consumed recreational drugs, smoked, had a high BMI, or used muscle enhancing supplements.