Study shows eating more junk food could lessen sperm count of men

• Men who eat more junk food have less healthy sperm and lower sperm counts.
• Men who eat vegetables had higher sperm counts, the same with those who eat a lot of fish and whole grains.
• Diets have continuously worsened over the years and the average sperm count has fallen by nearly 60 percent

A study at Harvard University discovered that men who eat more junk food have less healthy sperm and lower sperm counts.

Scientists from Harvard TH Chan University of Public Health took 3,000 men aged between 18 and 20 for the study. They assessed their diet as well as their sperm count.

After several tests, they have found out that the men who used to eat pizzas, processed meat, sugary snacks, and fizzy drinks had the worst sperm quality and the men who eat vegetables had higher sperm counts, same as those who eat a lot of fish and whole grains.

Diets have continuously worsened over the years and the average sperm count has fallen by nearly 60 percent. In some cases where couples are having problem with sperm counts to conceive, the researchers say that this could be easily reversed or remedied if the man changes their diet.

The team from Harvard compared the sperm count of those without a decent diet who ate a lot of junk food and found out that men have 25.6 fewer sperm than those who follow a balanced diet that included fish, chicken, and vegetables or having a ‘Scandinavian’ diet which contains a lot of cheese, milk, and grain.

Comparing 25.6m sperm count to the regular sperm count that should be somewhere around 39m sperm count according to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is a very huge drop.

Dr. Jorge Chavarro, the lead author of the study said: “We are seeing lower sperm counts and a few men fall below the WHO lower reference limits. This is the largest study to have found this in young men.

“You would be surprised to see how sensitive young men are to things that might affect sperm count because it’s a perceived measure of masculinity.”

An Andrology professor at the University of Sheffield  named Prof. Allan Pacey told the Daily Mail:

“It’s almost certain that this is down to an effect that those with the better diets are taking more antioxidants.

“With pizza, chips and red meat we know that the antioxidant stress goes up and that is bad for sperm.”