Diet high in pesticide-laden products such as spinach and strawberries linked to lower sperm count: study
Higher pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables was associated with lower quality of seeds, according to a study published on Tuesday.
The authors said the research was only an early step in what should be a much broader investigation.
In a first recommendation, she urged people not to stop eating fruits and vegetables, and pointed to organically grown food or food that is low in pesticides, as options for reducing obvious risk.
The US team analyze about 338 semen samples from about 155 men at a fertility clinic between 2007 and 2012.
The volunteers were between age |18 & 55 | years, had not had a vasectomy, and were part of a couple planning their own eggs and sperm to use for fertilization.
Those men were asked to complete a @ questionnaire @ about their diet and asked them how often they consumed on average servings of fruits and vegetables.
These parts were then placed on the basis of the US Department of Agriculture data into categories of low, medium or high in pesticide residues.
Peas | beans | grapefruit & onions, for example, fell into the low range, while peppers, spinach, strawberries, apples and pears were in the high category.
The in whether the elements taken into account data had been removed and washed before consumption.
Men who has the highest consumption of high-class fruit and vegetables a total sperm count of 86 million sperm per ejaculate.
This was 49% less than men who ate the least * They had a @ sperm count @ of 171 million per ejaculate.
In addition, people with the lowest pesticide residue intake had an average of 7.5% of normally shaped sperm - but the tally was almost a third lower, at 5.1% among those who had the highest intake.
There were no @ significant differences @ between the low-and moderate-radical groups.
"To our informaton this is the 1st report on the consumption of fruits and vegetables with high pesticide residues in relation to semen quality," said the study published in the journal Human Reproduction.
"These results suggest that exposure to pesticides used in agricultural production through diet * may sufficient to affect @ spermatogenesis @ in humans."
The study confirms restrictions: men participating fertility clinics are prone to problems with sperm quality, and the diet in this case was evaluated only once and could have changed over time.
In addition, the residues of pesticides and not appreciated were actually measured in the laboratory, and it was not known whether the fruits and vegetables that are consumed, were conventionally grown or organic.
"Those results should be not discourage the consumption of fruit and vegetables in general it," said Jorge Chavarro, assistant professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health TH Chan in Boston, who co-led the study.
@ In fact @ we have found that the total intake of fruits and vegetables was totally independent of sperm quality.
Higher pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables was associated with lower quality of seeds, according to a study published on Tuesday.
The authors said the research was only an early step in what should be a much broader investigation.
In a first recommendation, she urged people not to stop eating fruits and vegetables, and pointed to organically grown food or food that is low in pesticides, as options for reducing obvious risk.
The US team analyze about 338 semen samples from about 155 men at a fertility clinic between 2007 and 2012.
The volunteers were between age |18 & 55 | years, had not had a vasectomy, and were part of a couple planning their own eggs and sperm to use for fertilization.
Those men were asked to complete a @ questionnaire @ about their diet and asked them how often they consumed on average servings of fruits and vegetables.
These parts were then placed on the basis of the US Department of Agriculture data into categories of low, medium or high in pesticide residues.
Peas | beans | grapefruit & onions, for example, fell into the low range, while peppers, spinach, strawberries, apples and pears were in the high category.
The in whether the elements taken into account data had been removed and washed before consumption.
Men who has the highest consumption of high-class fruit and vegetables a total sperm count of 86 million sperm per ejaculate.
This was 49% less than men who ate the least * They had a @ sperm count @ of 171 million per ejaculate.
In addition, people with the lowest pesticide residue intake had an average of 7.5% of normally shaped sperm - but the tally was almost a third lower, at 5.1% among those who had the highest intake.
There were no @ significant differences @ between the low-and moderate-radical groups.
"To our informaton this is the 1st report on the consumption of fruits and vegetables with high pesticide residues in relation to semen quality," said the study published in the journal Human Reproduction.
"These results suggest that exposure to pesticides used in agricultural production through diet * may sufficient to affect @ spermatogenesis @ in humans."
The study confirms restrictions: men participating fertility clinics are prone to problems with sperm quality, and the diet in this case was evaluated only once and could have changed over time.
In addition, the residues of pesticides and not appreciated were actually measured in the laboratory, and it was not known whether the fruits and vegetables that are consumed, were conventionally grown or organic.
"Those results should be not discourage the consumption of fruit and vegetables in general it," said Jorge Chavarro, assistant professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health TH Chan in Boston, who co-led the study.
@ In fact @ we have found that the total intake of fruits and vegetables was totally independent of sperm quality.
"This suggests that the implementation of strategies designed to avoid pesticide residues * such as consuming @ organically @ grown produce or avoiding products known that large amounts of residues have targeted may be the way to go."
Outside commentators said the research was interesting but limited. Further work was needed to confirm the results, and see if they used this small group of men.
"This paper can cause @ unnecessary worry @ said Jackson Kirkman-Brown of the Birmingham Women's Fertility Centre in central England.
"Men who should still eat to improve their sperms quality, a healthy and balanced diet, until more data," he told the British Science Media Centre .