A new study suggests wearing a traditional kilt may help increase sperm count among men, the National Post reports.
Kilt, a 16th century traditional knee-length garment of men and boys in the Scottish Highlands, has proven to be beneficiary in the improvement of sperm count, quality and fertility among men. Researchers provide a scientific explanation to how wearing a kilt regularly can improve sperm count rather than wearing tight pants.
Researchers at the Erasmus MC University Medical Center in Rotterdam suggest men wear kilts during the stage when they plan to have children because it maintains a healthy scrotal temperature.
Since it has long been known that maintaining healthy scrotal temperature helps in reproductive success, the new study supports the fact and suggests suitable attire can help increase sperm count and fertility in men.
Author Erwin Kompanje, reviewed several medical studies that were published between 1934 and 1996 about "scrotal temperature and Spermatogenesis [sperm production]" which showed that increased temperature in the scrotal region affects the sperm production. The study suggests that scrotum must be three degrees less than the body's temperature, which is ideal when dressed in a kilt. According to the National Post report, the study found that wearing tight pants increases the scrotal temperature by 3.5 Celsius.
"Kilt-wearing likely produces an ideal physiological scrotal environment, which in turn helps maintain normal scrotal temperature, which is known to be beneficial for robust spermotaogenesis and good sperm quality," the study's lead author Erwin Kompanje told Daily Mail Health in the U.K. "Thus, it seems plausible men should wear skirts and avoid trousers, at least during the period during which they plan to conceive children."
Kompanje further said that wearing kilt on a regular basis has shown significant improvement in sperm quality and higher fertility.
He also noted a psychological benefit of wearing a kilt, which boosts "a feeling of masculinity and pride" and "positive attention from sexual admirers."
The findings of the study are published in an article in the Scottish Medical Journal titled as "Real Men Wear Kilts."
