Healthier diet, stronger sperm? For years, nutritionists have
rallied around the notion that "you are what you eat." Now, new
research suggests this adage might even extend to the strength
and quantity of sperm. The observation stems from a pair of
studies slated for presentation Monday at the American Society
for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., both
of which highlight an apparent linkage between nutrition and
semen quality. The upshot: Diets rich in red meat and processed
grains seem to impair the ability of sperm to move about, while
diets high in trans fats appear to lower the amount of sperm
found in semen. "The main overall finding of our work is that a
healthy diet seems to be beneficial for semen quality," said
Audrey J. Gaskins, lead author of the first study. Currently a
doctoral candidate in Harvard School of Public Health's
department of nutrition in Boston, Gaskins' colleagues included
researchers from both the University of Rochester and the
University of Murcia in Spain. "