Mother Nature is picky; survival of the fittest is no joke in her book. You want to eat junk food, burgers, and fries? You want to treat your body like it doesn’t matter that you just ate a pizza all by yourself for dinner? Well, guess what: Mother Nature gets the last laugh, because when you eat poorly, she messes with your sperm.

A pair of studies presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine last October, showed that men whose diets were laden with trans fats produced semen with fewer sperm. Additionally, men who consumed diets heavy in red meat and processed grains, produced sperm that had lower motility (less movement.)

Difficulty moving? Fat, slow sperm? Yes. Infertility in men is measured by the amount of sperm found in the semen, shape of the sperm, and the ability of the sperm to swim quickly and forcefully to penetrate the egg. Chances are, if you are consuming a diet high in trans fats, red meat and processed grains, you aren’t at maximum health. You probably don’t feel very energetic, and neither does your sperm.

The first study, lead by Audrey J. Gaskins, at the Harvard School of Public Health’s Department of Nutrition, combined her own data with researchers from the University of Murcia (Spain) and data from the University of Rochester. Gaskins’ research was based on 188 men, their age range was between 18 and 22.

Gaskin’s analyzed the diets of the subjects through questionnaires about their eating habits to determine the how much red meat, processed carbs, and refined sugar vs. fish, chicken, fresh vegetables, and whole grains they consumed in their daily diets. She divided the subjects into two categories based on their diets (Western-more junk vs. “prudent”-the healthier diets consisting of fish, chicken, fruits, veggies, and whole grains.)

She then tested the amount, the shape, and the motility of the sperm of the subjects in each category and found that the Western diet adversely affected the motility of the sperm. The amount of sperm and shape were unaffected, but the sperm of the men who ate more red meat, refined carbs, and sugar had a higher concentration of sperm that “sat still,” rather than swam with purpose.

Another study, also done at the Harvard School of Public Health, led by Dr. Jorge Chavarro, (as an Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology,) and studied the effects of trans fats on sperm quality. Dr. Chavarro studied 100 men who were attending a fertility clinic, and these subjects underwent nutrition and semen analysis. Chavarro’s study showed a direct proportional relationship: the larger the amount of trans fat consumed in a subject’s diet, the lower the concentration of sperm in the subject’s semen. In fact, the sperm and semen themselves contained a higher amount of trans fat in them, meaning these men produced what we might call “chubby sperm.”

If you are serious about having a baby, you might want to consider life after that baby is born. You will need a tremendous amount of energy, both physical and emotional, to raise a child; and you will want to live a long life, to raise that child (without having a heart attack or diabetes, or some other disease linked to poor diet,) and see your grandchildren! Mother Nature is lowering your rate of success because she knows you aren’t a prime candidate for reproduction based on the condition of your body. So if you need to change your diet, consult your doctor or a nutritionist, make changes slowly, and one at a time until you are eating well, and show Mother Nature you are ready.

References: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/article

- Lee