Ultra-processed food consumption and semen quality parameters: Led-Fertyl study
There is growing concern regarding infertility and human semen quality because 8 - 12% of couples of reproductive age, around the world, have difficulties conceiving. It is estimated that male factors account for up to 40–50% of this infertility burden. The remarkable decrease in semen quality over the last decades, particularly in developed and industrialized countries, highlights the potential roles of environmental and lifestyle factors in this decline. Environmental pollution, illicit drug use, smoking, alcohol consumption, dietary exposure to potential endocrine-disrupting chemicals, psychological stress, and unhealthy diets have been hypothesized to be involved in the etiology of poor semen quality. Given their modifiable nature, decreasing exposure to these could be appropriate in infertility prevention. Among lifestyle risk factors, dietary habits appear to have an important role in semen quality.
Previous research has reported that adherence to healthy dietary patterns rich in unprocessed or minimally processed food (fruits, vegetables, legumes, or nuts) and low in red and processed meat or sugar-sweetened beverages, such as the Mediterranean or Prudent diet is positively associated with semen quality. In contrast, the Western diet, rich in meat and processed meat, dairy products, and sugar-sweetened beverages, has a high glycaemic index and seems to be negatively associated with different semen quality parameters. Unfortunately, the Western dietary pattern, which is associated with a higher consumption of ultra-processed food (UPF), has been rising during recent decades. UPFs are industrial formulations typically of poor nutritional quality and containing several added ingredients including sugar, salt, fat, artificial colors, flavors and stabilizers, among other additives. Thus, they are ready-to-eat, low-cost, hyper-palatable, convenience products with a long shelf life. Additionally, most of them are low in health-beneficial dietary components such as fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. A significant body of scientific evidence has reported an association between UPF consumption and several chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, and all-cause mortality.
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