Here’s what to know about a healthy diet for fertility.
If you’ve been keeping up with the news recently, you may have noticed there’s a bit of a crisis with the birds and the bees. Men’s sperm, it seems, has been swimming upstream. nuts improve sperm count.
In the past 40 years, sperm counts among men have dropped nearly 52 percent according to research. Health experts are pointing fingers at the pollution, smoking, and Western-style diets found in industrialized countries.
However, a new study has revealed that eating nuts could provide men with a much-needed fertility boost.
Eating nuts improve sperm count & health, a study suggests.
Men who ate about two handfuls of mixed almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts daily for 14 weeks improved their sperm count and had more viable “swimmers”, scientists found.
In one study men were either given a nut-free Western-style diet or a Western-style diet supplemented with 60 grams/day of a mix of almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts. The authors concluded that including nuts in a regular diet significantly improved men’s sperm parameters.
In fact, men who ate nuts daily saw a 16 percent increase in sperm count along with improvements in sperm vitality, motility, shape, and size. They also observed a reduction in damaging DNA fragmentation.
The study comes amid a decline in sperm counts across the Western world, linked to pollution, smoking, and diet. Researchers said there was growing evidence a healthy diet could boost the odds of conceiving.
About one in seven couples have difficulty getting pregnant and about 40-50% of cases of infertility are attributable to men. Sperm drop ‘could make humans extinct. ‘Healthiest hearts in the world’ found
Another study focused on the intake of walnuts only and found that eating 75 grams of walnuts per day for 12 weeks improved sperm vitality, motility, and morphology (in a group of healthy, young men who consumed a Western‐style diet).
1. What you eat can affect your sperm.
The scientists randomly divided 119 healthy men between the ages of 18 and 35 into two groups:
- One added 60 grams (2oz) of nuts a day to their normal diet
- One made no changes to what they ate
Those in the nut group improved sperm count by 14% vitality by 4% motility by 6% morphology (shape and size) by 1%.
All of these are the parameters the World Health Organization lists as measurements of sperm quality and are associated with male fertility.
Experts said the study backed up others that showed a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and the B vitamin folate improved fertility.
Nuts improve sperm count as they contain many of these and other nutrients.
“Evidence is accumulating in the literature that healthy lifestyle changes such as following a healthy dietary pattern might help conception,” — said Dr. Albert Salas-Huetos, from the Universitat Rovira I Virgili, in Spain, who led the study.
Allan Pacey, professor of andrology at the University of Sheffield, who was not involved in the research, said it was also possible that men in the nut group might have made other positive changes to their lives not taken into account by the study.
The results of the study are being presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Barcelona.
The 14-week trial compared a group of men who added a daily dose of certain nuts to a Western-style diet with an equivalent group of men who ate the same diet but without nuts.
The daily dose of nuts comprised 60 grams (g) — the equivalent of about two handfuls — of almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts.
The investigators, who hail from research centers in Spain, believe that this is the first study to show that eating nuts can benefit sexual function. A 2018 analysis of the trial data had already reported that daily consumption of these nuts appeared to improve sperm quality.
The recent analysis uses the same trial data but focuses on the effect of nuts consumption on sexual and erectile function. The findings suggest that adding nuts to a Western-style diet can improve orgasm quality and sexual desire. nuts improve sperm count.
2. Are you Struggling to have children?
If so, consider eating a handful of walnuts every day.
Enriching your diet with walnuts can be an effective first step in resolving your fertility issues and, if needed, there are many other treatments for infertility using medications or surgery.
According to a study conducted by the University of Delaware, eating a walnut-enriched diet boosts sperm quality (nuts improve sperm count) and aids in preventing male infertility.
3. How Do Walnuts Work? Do nuts improve sperm count really?
Walnuts reduce lipid peroxidation, a form of cell damage that interferes with sperm membranes and harms sperm cells. Sperm is made of polyunsaturated fatty acids which are liable to damage by lipid peroxidation.
Walnuts are the only tree nut made of mostly polyunsaturated fatty acids and will therefore effectively replenish sperm cells. In fact, just 1 ounce of walnuts contains 13 grams of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in 18 grams of total fat.
By preventing sperm damage and replenishing sperm cells, walnuts help to improve sperm morphology, motility, and vitality. So, Nuts improve sperm count!
4. Walnuts are Beneficial for Sperm Health – Nuts improve sperm count.
Fertility in men is determined largely by sperm quality and quantity.
For instance, if the number of sperm ejaculated is very low or the sperm is of poor quality, it may be difficult or even unlikely for a pregnancy to occur.
Since one-in-five infertility cases are solely due to the male partner and about one-in-twenty men suffer from some form of fertility problem related to low numbers of sperm ejaculated, using a healthy and proven method of improving sperm morphology, vitality and motility is a good way to begin addressing fertility problems.
5. A healthier lifestyle matters, too
“As a good rule of thumb, what’s good for your heart is good for your sperm,” Greg J. Sommer, co-founder of the male fertility app Trak, mentioned.
He recommends that men keep their weight in check by staying physically active and steering clear of alcohol and cigarettes.
In addition, it’s important to get a good night’s sleep every night as stress and sleep deprivation have been linked to infertility.
Lastly, men should avoid exposing the groin to excessive heat.
“The testicles need to stay cooler than the rest of the body to make sperm, so avoiding hot tubs, saunas, and even tight bicycle [shorts] is important,” Sommer advised.
6. So, should you add nuts to your diet?
Well, it can’t hurt, but some experts are hesitant about recommending nuts as a solution for infertility issues just yet.
Because the study’s sample size was small, limited to healthy, fertile men, and didn’t include men who have infertility issues or abnormal sperm, the researchers warn that the results can’t be applied to all men.
While more research is needed to better understand how diet can impact semen quality in a larger population, this study adds to the growing pile of evidence that what we eat can have a monumental impact on our overall health and our ability to conceive.
If you’re looking to start a family, Sommer recommends you take stock of your overall health and lifestyle and start making smarter choices. The body is quite connected, and the healthier your body is, the healthier your sperm and hormone levels will be.
“Taking a few months to make meaningful improvements in your health is not only going to help you become a dad,” he said, “but it’s also going to make you a healthier, happier, and more energetic man in the long run. All qualities that you are going to need once those kids arrive.”
