Sperm quality improved by adding nuts to the diet, according to a study

Eating nuts regularly could improve sperm health, a study suggests.

Men who ate about two handfuls of almonds, hazelnuts, and nuts a day for 14 weeks improved their sperm count and had more viable "swimmers," scientists discovered

]. world, linked to pollution, smoking and food.

The researchers said that there was more and more evidence that a healthy diet could increase the chances of conceiving.

About one in seven couples have difficulty getting pregnant and about 40-50% of infertility cases are attributable to men. "The World's Healthiest Hearts" found

Scientists randomly divided 119 healthy men between 18 and 35 years of age into two groups:

• 60 grams (2oz) of nuts were added per day to their normal diet
• No change was made to what they ate

Those in the group of nuts improved sperm:

• Count by 14%
• vitality of 4%
• motility (movement) of 6%
• morphology (shape and size) of 1%

All these parameters are those of the World Health Organization as indicators of sperm quality and are associated with male fertility

Experts said the study confirmed others who showed a rich diet i Omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and vitamin B folate improve fertility.

Nuts contain many of these nutrients and other nutrients

"Evidence accumulates in the literature that healthy lifestyle changes help design," said Dr. Albert Salas -Huetos, from Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Spain, who led the study.

"Academic Interesting"

However, the researchers warned that these men were healthy and apparently fertile, so it was not clear if the results would apply to the wider population, including men with fertility problems.

Allan Pacey, professor of Andrology at the University of Sheffield, who was not involved in the research, said that it was also possible that men from the group of walnuts have made other positive changes in their lives not taken into account by the study.

Dr. Virginia Bolton, a former clinical embryologist consultant at Guy's Hospital in London, said the results were "academically interesting," but that it was impossible to say what effect they would have. on the increased chances of pregnancy.

She added, "But in the meantime, until we get the answers to the questions, we should all encourage all our patients to stop drinking alcohol, quit smoking, eat healthily. , all standard things. "

The results of the study will be presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Barcelona.

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