A new study by Harvard University researchers claims processed meat is bad for your sperm count, the Telegraph UK reports.
The scientist studied the eating habits, size and shape of sperm of 156 male participants suffering from fertility problems. Researchers found men who ate processed meat including bacon, sausage and hamburgers had lower amounts of "normal" sperm.
"We found that processed meat intake was associated with lower semen quality and fish was to higher semen quality," Dr Myriam Afeiche, from the Department of Nutrition, at Harvard School of Public Health, told the Telegraph.
The study was presented this week at a meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in Boston, according to the Daily Mail:
[Researchers] 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.
Dr. Allan Pacey, a fertility expert at the University of Sheffield, told the Telegraph he questioned the findings, adding the correlation between diet and fertility was already known.
"The relationship between diet and men's fertility is an interesting one and there is convincing evidence that men who eat more fresh fruit and vegetables have better sperm than men who don't," Pacery said. "However, less is known about the fertility of men with poor diets."
Regardless of the study's findings, Pacey said it is healthier to limit the amount of processed meat in your diest.
"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," Pacey said.
