Men who eat just one rasher of bacon a day could be reducing their chances of becoming fathers.
Half a portion of processed meat such as a rasher or a small sausage can significantly harm sperm quality, scientists believe.
Those who want to boost the odds of having a child should eat fish instead – with species such as cod or halibut appearing to have a particularly dramatic effect on fertility.
Replace: Those who want to boost their odds of having a child should eat fish instead, both cod and halibut seem to have a particularly dramatic effect
The findings add to the growing evidence that a couple’s chances of having children is strongly governed by their lifestyle – with smoking, alcohol and stress having a detrimental effect and exercise and diet enhancing it.
Experts are still unclear why certain foods can harm or promote fertility, but red meat is thought to contain high levels of pesticides and other substances that can interfere with hormones. White fish is rich in zinc, which is believed to boost fertility.
In a study to be presented this week at a meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in Boston, Harvard University researchers compared the eating habits of 156 men undergoing IVF treatment with their partners.
They were each questioned how often they ate a range of foods including processed meat, white meat, red meat, white fish and tuna or salmon. Men who consumed just half a portion of processed meat a day had just 5.5 per cent ‘normal’ shaped sperm cells, compared to 7.2 per cent of those who ate less.
Men who had dishes containing white fish at least every other day – or half a portion daily – had far better sperm quality than those who ate it rarely.
Improvement: Men who had dishes containing white fish at least every other day ¿ or half a portion daily ¿ had far better sperm quality than those who ate it rarely
Lead researcher Dr Myriam Afeiche said: ‘We found the effect of processed meat intake lowered quality and fish raised quality.’
But Dr Allan Pacey, chairman of the British Fertility Society, was cautious about the findings.
‘The relationship between diet and men’s fertility is an interesting one and there is certainly now convincing evidence that men who eat more fresh fruit and vegetables have better sperm than men who don’t,’ he said.
‘However, less is known about the fertility of men with poor diets and whether specific foods can be linked to poor sperm quality.
‘In this instance, the authors link men’s intake of processed meat with the size and shape of their sperm. This may be a real effect, but the study is small and we know that accurately measuring sperm size and shape in the laboratory is fraught with error.
‘However, it is already known that high intake of processed meat is linked to other health issues and so advising men to limit their intake of processed food may improve their health generally as well as possibly be good for their fertility.’
Last year, Cambridge University researchers calculated that the number of cases of bowel cancer, heart disease and diabetes would drop by 10 per cent if men halved their intake of processed meat.
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