The Association between Dietary Patterns and Semen Quality in a General Asian Population of 7282 Males

Abstract

ObjectiveTo explore the associations between different dietary patterns and semen quality in a general Asian male population.MethodsCross-sectional study. Healthy Taiwanese men aged 18 years or older who participated in a standard medical screening program from 2008-2013 run by a private firm were included in this study. Semen parameters including sperm concentration (SC), total sperm motility (TSM), progressive motility (PRM) and normal sperm morphology (NSM) were recorded. A dietary questionnaire was used to categorize the participants into 5 groups: “Healthy diet”, “Western diet”, “High-carbohydrate diet”, “High sweet snacks & sugar-sweetened drinks” and “High-sodium diet”.ResultsA total of 7282 men completed the questionnaire regarding dietary pattern, and examination of anthropometric indexes was performed and laboratory data were obtained. A high intake of a “Western diet” resulted in statistically linear declines of SC and NSM (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001). Similarly, a greater intake of “High sweet snacks & sugar-sweetened drinks” was associated with a lower SC (P = 0.001). Increased intake of a “High-carbohydrate diet” was related to higher prevalences of abnormal TSM and PRM (P = 0.012 and P = 0.025). Similarly, a greater intake of a “High-sodium diet” was correlated with an elevated prevalence of abnormal NSM (P = 0.035).ConclusionsThis study showed that a greater intake of a “Western diet” is associated with poorer SC and NSM, a “High sweet snacks and sugar-sweetened drinks” intake is correlated with a lower SC, and high-carbohydrate food is related to elevated prevalences of abnormal TSM and PRM.

Association of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, Physical Activity, and Their Combination with Semen Quality: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The antioxidants in male reproductive health may be positively associated with semen parameters [31][32][33], fertilization rate [34], decreasing oxidative damage to spermatozoa [35,36], DNA maintenance, transfer RNA, protein synthesis [37], and the reduction of the negative effects of inflammation [36,38]. Moreover, the DASH diet recommends a reduction in sweets, meat, eggs, and fat consumption that, due to the content of sugars, saturated/trans fatty acids, and sodium, may adversely affect sperm count [28], concentration [39,40], sperm motility [29,40,41], and morphology [40,41].…”

Diet and Semen Quality in Healthy Males From the Population of the Lower Silesia Region in Poland (The Androls Study)

“…16,17 The present study showed a significant negative correlation between the percent carbohydrate content of the daily food ration and both semen volume and consistency. Liu et al 10 showed that a diet referred to as the high-carbohydrate diet (assessed by using questionnaire included the frequency and amount of consumption for each food group) negatively impacted semen quality of the subjects (abnormal total sperm count and progressive motility). The same study demonstrated that males who consumed large amounts of highly sweet snacks and sugar-sweetened drinks had lower sperm counts (10 6 /mL).…”

“…Some studies have demonstrated that a "western pattern" diet, which is organ meats, red and processed meats, sugar, soft drinks and confectionary, pasta, rice and refined grains, potatoes, fried and fast foods, high-fat dairy products, hydrogenated fats, mayonnaise and fatty sauces, and snacks, might have a negative effect on male fertility, other recent studies have also indicated that a "prudent pattern" diet, in which more leafy green vegetables, yellow vegetables, other vegetables, tomatoes, fish and other seafood, fruits and natural fruit juices, legumes, whole grains, poultry, tea and coffee, low-fat dairy products, and vegetable oils are consumed, may benefit sperm quality. [10][11][12] Based on the available literature in PubMed, no study has been performed to assess the impact of the quantities of selected dietary nutrients on semen quality.…”

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

“…The second pattern was an unhealthy/Western dietary pattern which was characterized by high consumption of red and/or processed meat, refined grain, sweets, high‐fat dairy products, butter, potato, high‐fat gravy, and low intake of fruit and vegetables (Gaskins et al ., ; Cutillas‐Tolin et al ., ; Liu et al ., ; Jurewicz et al ., ,b).…”