"Spirit" harm! Too much junk food brings about a bug crisis

Many Taiwanese couples have infertility issues. Even after many years of marriage, they are still unable to conceive and ultimately have to rely on artificial insemination to fulfill their "dream of having children." There are many factors that cause infertility, some of which are related to insufficient sperm count or poor quality. A recent research report from Harvard University in the United States pointed out that men should give up junk food as much as possible, otherwise it will seriously affect the quality and quantity of sperm.

The more saturated fat you consume, the fewer sperm you have. (Photo/taken from Time Magazine)

The British national broadcaster BBC quoted a paper published in the journal Human Reproduction by a research team from Harvard Medical School. The team conducted a four-year follow-up survey on 99 men around 35 years old, trying to find the relationship between eating habits and sperm count. The results showed that the more saturated fats consumed at each meal, the longer the sperm count, the lower the sperm count by 43%, and the sperm density per unit also dropped by 38%. In contrast, the other group regularly consumed deep-sea fish or vegetable oils, and the Omega-3 fatty acids in them actually strengthened the structure and vitality of sperm, and also increased the sperm density per unit.

Richard, University of Edinburgh, UK. Dr. Richard Sharp explained that the plasma membrane of sperm is the key to determining whether its structure is complete or not. The main component of the plasma membrane is fat, so the fat eaten into the body will eventually affect the quality of the sperm composition. It has also been clinically confirmed that Omega-3 fatty acids are closely positively correlated with sperm quality parameters. It seems that it is indeed feasible to increase the chances of conception by changing the diet.

However, the shortcomings of this study are that the number of participants was too small, and 71% of the subjects were overweight or morbidly obese, which may be the reasons for poor sperm quality. Therefore, the relationship between the type of fat and sperm quality still needs to be further clarified. But what is certain is that eating a lot of unhealthy fast food for a long time is bound to cause obesity, high cholesterol, high blood lipids and other problems, which will more or less affect the male's reproductive ability and will also affect the health of the baby.