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October 16th, 2013
04:16 PM ET
Attention sperm: Bacon bad, fish goodThe quality of a man's semen is directly related to his ability to help conceive a child. But science hasn't found many solutions for men looking for a baby-making boost. Now a study suggests men who are hoping to start families may want to pay attention to what they eat. A study presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in Boston this week, and published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, suggests that processed meat intake is linked to poorer semen quality, and fish is linked to better semen quality. Myriam Afeiche, research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health, and her colleagues looked at how types of meat could be associated with semen quality. They took samples from 156 men at the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center in Boston and had the men answer a questionnaire about their eating habits. The concentration of sperm is one part of it. So is motility, or how fast the sperm move. The shape of the sperm also matters, as does the total sperm count - that's the concentration multiplied by volume. The researchers did not look at individual kinds of processed meat, so this study won't tell you if bacon could be more sperm-stunting than hamburgers, or vice versa. But higher intake of processed meat appeared to be related to a lower percent of "morphologically normal" - or well-shaped - sperm. Regarding fish, it seemed that men who ate more dark meat fish - such as salmon, bluefish and tuna - had higher total sperm count; more white meat fish - such as cod and halibut - was associated with normally-shaped sperm. The researchers only looked at associations, not causes. It is unclear whether processed meat actually causes changes in sperm, or if it does, how that would happen. It's possible men who eat more processed meat have an unhealthier diet overall, which could affect their semen. Same goes for fish intake and sperm; researchers don't know what about fish may benefit the littler swimmers. "There might be something else going on, but we’re not sure what it is," Afeiche said. Afeiche and her colleagues found that neither total fat intake, including saturated fat, nor animal fat could explain these connections. "We have previously found in this same study population that saturated fat was related to lower total sperm count and sperm concentration," she said. A 2012 study in the American Journal for Nutrition found that, in a sample of 701 Danish men, high intake of saturated fat was associated with low sperm concentration and low total sperm count. Afeiche's findings seem "quite related to our study," said Tina Kold Jensen, professor of environmental health at University of Southern Denmark, who led the saturated fat study. But Jensen did not have any answers either about what the saturated fat would be doing biologically to diminish sperm quality. If modifying his diet can help a man boost his semen quality, that would be an easy intervention for many couples who are having trouble conceiving. But it should also be noted that there's not a linear relationship between semen quality and likelihood of conception, says Afeiche. The two are related, of course, but all it takes is one sperm to conceive. Afeiche isn't ready to make any dietary recommendations based on her new research. This is only one study, she said, and it was done on a relatively small group of men in Boston. "I would say that further studies are needed to confirm this," she said. Researchers will have to recruit a larger group of men from a wider geographic area to make the findings applicable to semen everywhere.
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Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love.
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Well, if there is one thing I value in the world more than having children, it's bacon.
Why have kids when you can have bacon?
You wanna know how good bacon is? To improve other food, they wrap it in bacon. If it weren't for bacon, we wouldn't even know what a water chestnut is.
bacon is disgusting and makes you fat and smelly–yuck!
...AND, you don't have to put bacon thru college!
Bacon, the new birth control available without a prescription.
Here is the most important part of the article:
"Afeiche isn't ready to make any dietary recommendations based on her new research. This is only one study, she said, and it was done on a relatively small group of men in Boston."
Ha ha ha, agreed, so you are happy with that important part or the article .....
...and the next study involves a taste test. =-)
Dude, I almost passed hot coco out my nose, LOL.
I presume you were talking about the bacon and fish? =D
ROFLMGDAO!!!!
bacon flavored......
Okay for my wife, not for me.
@Frank – Sheer genius, we need to make that happen!!
Nowhere in the article does it make the claim that bacon is bad for sperm. "Processed meat" (none was singled out) "appeared to be related to "morphologically normal" – or well-shaped – sperm."
So, that's BAD??
Hi, it was actually negatively related. I rewrote that sentence to make it clearer. Thanks!
Elizabeth Landau, CNN
If the sperm is oddly shaped, call it designer sperm. Get a patent and enjoy life...
People really need to get a life....and why is this important?
Are you one of those people that you are talking about?
They're trying to get a life .. hence the need for high sperm count.
Couples are having a hard time conceiving now a days due to, among other things, low sperm count. This is more common than ever before. This is important to bring awareness that consuming processed meat may have negative effect on sperm count.
So bacon is all natural birth control!!!
Is that a bad thing?
My sperm doesn't care. It really only cares about one thing.
Yeah, getting out, LOL!
In general, anything that improves overall health for a man will also improve semen quality. People who eat a few servings of fish per week are on average more health-conscious than those who do not. Fewer of them smoke. Fewer of them are obese. I suspect that while the fish consumption correlates with higher semen quality, the cause is broader.
Welp... I am not having kids. 🙁
i don't eat healthy. i don't eat fish at all. in fact never tried one. i smoke. i have 3 baby mommas, 5 kids total. all had dna test done. gotta love bacon! in fact can they invent a condom from a bacon. ouch!
i meant paternity test.. sheezz too much bacon grease in my brain
http://baconsalt.3dcartstores.com/Bacon-Condoms_p_177.html
I simply love bacon and have all my life. My wife shares my love of everything bacon and when we were younger, bacon was sometimes a daily part of our diet. That said, I have fathered three healthy children with her, all doing well. Bacon milkshakes anyone?
Hah! You're assuming they're actually yours....I'd check to see if maybe they bear a striking resemblance to your local fishmonger. 😉
..you're dying young and grotesquely fat...with a limp dick to boot. 🙁
Listen to Dr Miller... or any knowledgeable doctor for that matter. Bragging that you're eating like a moe-ronn doesn't impress many.... outside of those who are also moe-ronns with their diet. Once you develop the self discipline to eat correctly, all that junk food will easily lose it's appeal.
Well, it explains why Muslims multiply faster than the rest of the world...
LOL! low blow!
Time to double-down on the bacon and processed meats!
/sorry, honey.
Fish with signicant amounts of Mercury are probably not very good for sperm or other parts of the body as long term studies have shown. Whereas a couple pieces of bacon are not going to make you and your kids dumb as these studies have shown. Note: Recent samples of fish like tuna are showing higher than normal concentrations of Mercury in their bodies.
But vacon is no contraceptive ! 😉
Joy
Fish bacon. Problem solved.
Awesome news! I'm going to make sure I eat at least 10 lbs of bacon a day so my guys die off and I don't have to worry about that awkward "I missed my period" moment.
I read where pig genes interfere with normal conception.
I really don't see a downside to this.
"Bacon bad for sperm."
So don't give em bacon.
This is absurd logic. It is coincidental and shows no cause.
I have heard that people who drive Ferraris make more than $100k per year; therefore if you want to make $100k you should buy a Ferrari.
I prefer my bacon with eggs and toast
I doubt this, I eat about 2 pounds of bacon a week and have 14 kids with my wife of 36 years. Does this mean I could have had 25?
Not sure, but it might mean a quadruple bypass somewhere down the line. Geez!
Well... makes sense... fish are better swimmers than pigs...
Well... fish are better swimmers than pigs...
I would also suggest that sperm is bad for bacon.
bacon, bacon, bacon it's BACON!
More children means less bacon. More bacon means less children. MMmmm....bacon.
Here we go again, they continue to bash saturated fats. Why do they continue to misinform the populace on nutritional facts?
..so you know more than doctors eh? LOL
So, I'm guessing there's nothing quite like the thrill of opening your mouth and saying obviously ignorant things?
all of u guys are hilarious!
No comments on where they found 156 dudes to provide samples?
I am wondering if her next experiment will be taste and whether salty or sweet sperm are more mobile and how her gag reflex determines volume.
Glad this came out–most of us already knew this however. Eating processed red meats is for idiots, fatties and the ignorant. If you're still stuffing your engorged body with this crap–you deserve all the ill health effects–and then some. There's the greasy skin, the fatty rolls hanging off your smelly body and the heinous smell of you. There's the limp dick and the lack of social consciousness. Thank you for posting. 🙂
Peace to all those who educate themselves and see the light—good luck to the rest.Truly.Blessings. ❦❥❧
<3
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." ❦❥❧—Albert Einstein
You sound like a physician. Compassionate. Caring. One who educates. A true advocate for the vulnerable members of our society. Your patients must adore you and your lovely bedside manner. Your comments exude professionalism, true poise and grace. I'm recommending all of my collegues and residents read your posts and follow your lead. I sincerely mean the exact opposite of everything I just said about you.
Dr. Miller sounds like the kind of Dr. beloved by the most famous of German Vegetarians.....A.H.
Dr Sawyer: Maybe you should look around at the baby blimp epidemic we have in the U.S.? Then maybe you'd understand Dr Miller's 'tough love' approach. Or have you, unlike Dr Miller, never seen the myriad of problems caused by stuffing the heavily processed meats into one's pie-hole?
So keep piling up the bacon and it will be nature's birth control in more ways than one. 😉
I can just picture some confused goober wrapping up his fireman in a bacon raincoat.
Bacon Birth Control!!
Yeah!
I'm There!!!
The linked article looks like a poster abstract to me. Not a peer reviewed paper. There are not enough details to figure out exactly what they did (questionnaire), how they did their statistical analysis or the robustness of their conclusions. "More research is needed indeed."
Scientists also say that Nicholas Cage 467,000,000 worse for sperm than Kevin Bacon.
The best way to control over population. Oscar Meyer should jump on this. BTW, would thick slice bacon reduce more sperm?
OK, no argument, but lets look at this way, how much of bacon you have to eat to reduce the quality. How much of fish you have to eat to increase same. Is it every day, once a week or what. That's my question.
Why am I filled with dread over the continued existence of Salmon, Blue Fin and Tuna???
They need to tell us what the variables did to the taste of the semen.
Bacon is the pinnacle of society. This is obviously anti-bacon propaganda, but we will not be fooled.
So eating bacon is the new way of a natural contraceptive ..... I'm all for encouraging that. BACON!!!!
"Oh, the horror of it all."
Now I just want some bacon, thanks CNN.
And I'll encourage my boyfriend to eat more of it. 🙂
I eat bacon bacon regularly, and so does my wife. We just had a child in June, first try, and according to our daycare and his pediatrician, he is very advanced, at least more advanced than the norm for his age. This article just makes me want to eat some more bacon. Now I want applewood smoked bacon hamburgers for dinner.
I keep going back to the article's picture of bacon...
The headline is designed, as headlines are, to attract attention, and bacon attracts attention. The article itself points out that there's no evidence that bacon is any worse than other processed meats:
"The researchers did not look at individual kinds of processed meat, so this study won't tell you if bacon could be more sperm-stunting than hamburgers"
The headline could just as easily mention chicken mcnuggets, bologna, hot dogs, Lunchables, bratwurst, salami or any other processed meat, but the headline writer knew the article would get more hits and more comments if it mentioned bacon, aka "meat candy."
It's as if they want us to eat more bacon. Less kids, happier taste buds, everyone wins.
So, before sex, pass the bacon please?