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Men who add a handful of nuts to their diet may increase their sperm quality and fertility, according to a new study.
Spanish researchers compared men fed a mixture of nuts – almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts – for 14 weeks as a supplement to their standard Western diet with those who were not.
The inclusion of this nut mix for 14 weeks significantly improved sperm count, viability, motility (its ability to move independently), and body shape (length of head and tail), they found. .
Nuts contain omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and vitamin B folate, which has been linked to fewer semen abnormalities.
The study is an indicator that adding nuts to a basic UK diet may modulate male fertility and have an effect on sperm ‘epigenetics’ – changes in gene expression.
A handful of almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts (pictured) every day stimulates the production and morphology of men’s sperm
The study was conducted by researchers from the Human Nutrition Unit at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain.
“ This work demonstrates that there are certain sensitive regions of the sperm epigenome that respond to diet and can lead to changes in sperm and in its ability to fertilize, ” the study author said. Albert Salas-Huetos, who is now based at Harvard University. in the USA.
Environmental and lifestyle factors have been blamed on the decline in sperm quality, including diet and smoking.
Previous studies have reported a close association between alteration of specific sperm signatures and sperm quality.
For their study, Salas-Huetos and his colleagues analyzed DNA methylation, an epigenetic marker that tells genes to turn on or off.
DNA methylation adds a methyl group – CH3, a carbon atom with three hydrogen atoms bonded – to a specific region of DNA.
The presence of this molecular group then changes the expression of a gene and can turn off harmful genes, such as those associated with cancer.
“ This is very important in the process of fertility because spermatogenesis (the process by which sperm are created) and embryogenesis (the process by which the embryo is created) are highly regulated processes which require precise control of gene expression, ” Salas- Huetos told MailOnline.
This study was carried out on 72 healthy young men, all non-smokers.
Most of the participants – 48 in all – were assigned to the “nuts” group, while the remaining 24 participants were assigned to the control group and did not receive any nut supplement.
The 48 men in the tree nuts group ate 60 grams per day of mixed nuts – including almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts – without making any other dietary changes.
The researchers observed that after the 14 weeks, the methylation of 36 genomic regions was significantly different only in the group that ate nuts.
In total, 97.2% of these regions, or 35 out of 36, showed an increase in methylation, they found.
Research suggests that men don’t really need to change their diet other than adding a handful of nuts if they are to make their semen healthy.
According to the researchers, these findings provide the first evidence that adding nuts to a regular Western diet impacts the methylation of sperm DNA in specific regions.
The researchers also point out that the potential health benefits of the study, which was published in Andrology, require further study to verify the results found in other populations.
Sperm count has halved in the western world over the past four decades, which, along with the rise in testicular tumors, could be the cause of falling fertility rates and dependence on the drug. IVF, according to Professor Niels Skakkebaek of the University of Copenhagen, who was not involved in the study.
Hormone-disrupting pesticides sprayed on everyday foods may be to blame as the changes occur too quickly for genetics to be at fault.
“Changes in our genome cannot explain the observations, as changes have occurred over only a few generations,” said Prof Skakkebaek.
“Modern lifestyles are associated with increased exposure to various endocrine disrupting chemicals, such as pesticides, which can be harmful to humans, even if exposure to individual chemicals is low.
A study published in 2015 found that men who consumed the most fruits and vegetables with high levels of pesticides had 49% lower sperm counts than men who consumed the least.
WALNUTS “ PREVENT HEART DISEASE AND INTEGRAL CANCER ”
Walnuts have several brain stimulating properties and are high in omega-3 fatty acids. They are also rich in antioxidants which help fight inflammation and can protect cells.
A handful of nuts a day can prevent heart disease and bowel cancer, according to a study suggested in May 2018.
Eating just a third of a cup of walnuts for six weeks significantly reduces the production of excess bile acids, as well as the levels of “ bad ” cholesterol, according to one study.
Previous research has linked these bile acids to bowel cancer, while lower cholesterol levels are associated with a reduced risk of heart disease.
Researchers believe that the high fiber content in nuts encourages the growth of “good” bacteria in the gut, which is beneficial for heart and colon health.
Scientists have also found that although nuts are relatively high in calories, at around 28 per nut, only 80% of them are absorbed, with gut bacteria consuming the remaining 20%.
The results further suggest that people who eat a handful of nuts per day produce less secondary bile acids, which are made in the gut rather than the liver, like their primary counterparts.
Lead author Professor Hannah Holscher, University of Illinois, said: “Secondary bile acids have been shown to be higher in people with higher rates of colorectal cancer.
“Secondary bile acids can damage cells in the digestive tract and microbes produce these secondary bile acids.
“If we can reduce secondary bile acids in the gut, it can also help human health.
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