While a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is associated with good health, men who are vegetarians may be lowering their odds of becoming fathers. A study at Loma Linda University Medical School found that men who are vegetarians or vegans have significantly lower sperm counts, says an article published in the Telegraph.
Since members of the Seventh-Day Adventist church are vegetarians and live an average of 10 years longer than other Americans, researchers wondered if their long lives were linked to sperm quality. Study results showed just the opposite.
The four-year study found that the sperm counts of meat eaters was 70 million per ml, while the sperm counts of vegetarians and vegans were 50 million sperm per ml. Sperm mobility was also greatly reduced in the vegetarians — only one-third of sperm were active compared to almost 60 percent for those men who included meat in their diets.
The researchers say vitamin deficiencies may be partly to blame for poorer sperm quantity and quality, but that meat-replacement products containing soy could be responsible.
"We found that diet does significantly affect sperm quality. Vegetarian and vegan diets were associated with much lower sperm counts than omnivorous diets," Dr Eliza Orzylowska, an obstetrician at Loma Linda University Medical Centre in California, told the Telegraph.
"Although these people are not infertile, it is likely to play a factor in conception, particularly for couples who are trying to conceive naturally. the old fashioned way."
To read the entire Telegraph article, go here.
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