Walnuts shown to boost sperm quality

A calorie-rich diet is known to cause health problems ranging from cardiovascular disease to diabetes. Studies have also shown that pollution, poor lifestyle habits and a western-style diet are likely contributors to poor human semen quality.

Dr Wendie Robbins and colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles, decided to test whether adding walnuts to the typical American diet could help improve overall sperm quality.

The test group was divided into two sections, one of which ate walnuts while the other abstained from tree nuts of any kind.

The semen quality of the test sample was measured before the trial and then after 12 weeks of eating walnuts. The section which ate walnuts had higher blood levels of good fatty acids and their sperm showed improvements in vitality and lower levels of genetic abnormalities.

Fertility problems on the part of the male partner have been found to be the source of difficulty conceiving in at least one-third of couples, the California research team said.