Fuits and Veggies Essential For Mens Fertility

A healthy diet can help sperm. No surprise to me, but so much focus is put on the health of a woman trying to conceive that I think people forget that sperm needs to be healthy too. Here's an article about a study which found that infertile men had a low intake of fruits and vegetables. Read more:

Guys, eat fruits and veggies to improve fertility
Men who don't get enough produce have lower sperm motility, study says (www.msnbc.com)

From the article:

Forty-eight infertile men and 10 fertile men who had fathered children in the last year completed questionnaires about their diets. Results showed that 83 percent of the infertile men had a low intake of fruits and veggies, defined as fewer than five servings a day, compared with 40 percent of the fertile men.

And overall, men who ate the fewest fruits and veggies had the lowest sperm motility.

“We think that sperm quality is affected by dietary antioxidant intake,” said study author Dr. Vivian Lewis, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y.

Antioxidants, like those found in fruits and vegetables, may help prevent damage to sperm that causes them to become sluggish and lose the ability to fertilize an egg, she said.

In particular, the antioxidants glutathione and cryptoxanthin, which are prevalent in brightly colored produce such as leafy greens, tomatoes, peppers and oranges, were associated with strong, healthy sperm, Lewis said.

She recommended that men hoping to father children eat “a variety of fruits and vegetables, at least five servings a day.”

Dr. Rebecca Sokol, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, who was not affiliated with the study, said it’s prudent for men trying to impregnate their partners to improve their diets. It could potentially help their sperm, and it certainly helps their overall health, she said.