Zee Media Bureau
New York: Beware men, especially if you are lean! A new study has found that men who take more sugar-sweetened drinks such as soda can lower semen quality, leading to infertility.
Researchers have found that high consumption of sugary drinks is associated with low sperm motility, or sperm movement in healthy, lean men. However, the link was not apparent in overweight or obese men.
The study analysed the semen of 189 men between the ages of 18 and 22 from Rochester, New York. Each participant was made to take some physical exam and was asked to answer a questionnaire about his health habits and diet. They also provided their semen sample.
The men were asked how often they consumed sugar-sweetened drinks over the past year, from zero to six drinks per day.
According to Jorge Chavarro, study author and professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard, sugary drinks included more than just sodas.
The top 25 per cent of study participants who drank the most sugary drinks consumed an average of 2.7 sugar-sweetened beverages per day, 'Live Science' reported.
The study, published in the journal Human Reproduction, observed that consuming this many sugary drinks didn't seem to affect sperm concentration, shape or ejaculation volume.
But the lean men in this high-intake category had 6.3 per cent lower sperm motility than their counterparts who consumed, on average, less than one sugary drink per day.
Higher sugary drink intake was also associated with lower levels of a reproductive hormone called the follicle stimulating hormone, or FSH.
However, the study concluded that men both lean and obese, who consumed the most sugary drinks had slightly lower FSH levels.
With Agency Inputs
