Nutritional modifications in male infertility: a systematic review covering 2 decades

Abstract

Context: Studies suggest that appropriate nutritional modifications can improve the natural conception rate of infertile couples. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to review the human trials that investigated the relation between nutrition and male infertility. Data Sources: A comprehensive systematic review of published human studies was carried out by searching scientific databases. Article selection was carried out in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and MetaAnalyses. The American Dietetic Association Research Design and Implementation Checklist was also used for quality assessment. Data Extraction: A total of 502 articles were identified, of which 23 studies met the inclusion criteria. Data Synthesis: Results indicated that a healthy diet improves at least one measure of semen quality, while diets high in lipophilic foods, soy isoflavones, and sweets lower semen quality. Conclusion: The role of daily nutrient exposure and dietary quality needs to be highlighted in male infertility. Mechanistic studies addressing the responsible underlying mechanisms of action of dietary modifications are highly warranted.

High‐fat diets reduce male reproductive success in animal models: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…For example, the effects of a high‐fat diet may be more pronounced in diets with a low protein to fat ratio due to protein leverage and compensatory feeding . There is a paucity of studies on the effect of nutrition and diet on male factor infertility, and human studies are plagued by disparity in study design, trial quality, and contradictory evidence . Animal models can play an important role in establishing cause and elucidating mechanism, but to be useful, it is essential that the precise contents and nutrient balance of dietary treatments are specified.…”

Warfarin‐induced vitamin K deficiency affects spermatogenesis in Sprague‐Dawley rats

“…The proper functioning of this process can be impaired by a variety of factors such as genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors (Sharpe, 2010;Tüttelmann, Ruckert, & Röpke, 2018). Deficiencies in essential nutrients like vitamins A, D and E (but not K) have been reported to affect spermatogenesis (Giahi, Mohammadmoradi, Javidan, & Sadeghi, 2016). Vitamin K is well known for its role in the blood coagulation process, although other functions in bone metabolism and vascular biology were discovered (Lau et al, 2017;Mayer et al, 2016;Pivin et al, 2015;Vermeer, 2012).…”

Dietary patterns and semen quality: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of observational studies

“…Besides the genetic background (Najafipour & Moghbelinejad, ), adverse environmental factors including age (Johnson et al ., ), smoking (Sharma et al ., ), and alcohol intake (Jensen et al ., ) have been proposed as causes of semen quality decline. Recently, there has been growing interest in identifying reversible causes of semen quality decline, and numerous studies have been performed to investigate whether diet and nutrition can improve seminal parameters (Giahi et al ., ; Abbasihormozi et al ., ) similar to other disorders (Kafeshani, ).…”