Diet and male fertility

The October, 2012 issue of Human Reproduction contains an article by AJ Gaskins et al studying the association of dietary patterns with semen quality in young men. The study was performed by the Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health. It was called the Rochester Young Men’s Study and involved 188 men ages 18-22, and was conducted in 2009 & 2010 at the University of Rochester. Diet was assessed by food frequency questionnaire. Researchers classified the “Prudent” diet as containing a high intake of fish, chicken, fruit, vegetables legumes, and whole grains. The “Western” diet was high in red and processed meat, refined grains, pizza, snacks,high energy drinks and sweets. Men in the highest quartile of the Prudent diet had 11% higher progressively motile sperm compared with men in the lowest quartile. The Western diet was not associated with any changes in semen parameters.