Processed Meats Linked to Male Infertility

Does bacon cause infertility on the father's part? Could sausage make a man less fertile? The harmful effects of processed meats are well documented. Processed meats have been linked to increased risk of cancer, diabetes, stroke, obesity, heart disease, respiratory ailments, and liver disorders. Now data from a recent study titled "Meat Intake and Reproductive Parameters Among Young Men" indicate that high dietary ingestion of processed meats may be a contributing factor to one of the most embarrassing health conditions in men. The inability to father a child is a problem that many infertile men don't want to discuss.

A 2013 report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that about 9 per cent of men between the ages of 15 to 44 had some form of infertility or non-surgical sterility between 2006 and 2010. Doctors defined infertility as the inability of couples to conceive a child after trying for a year without medical assistance. Approximately 1 in 6 couples in the United States are battling with infertility, with the problem lying with male partner in about 30% of all cases.

Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health studied the diets of 189 men between the ages of 18 to 22 years who were attending a fertility clinic. The semen samples of all the participants were analyzed. The team of investigators found significant abnormalities in the sperm count, size, and shape of men who ate one-third of a serving of processed meat per day. Abnormalities in sperm size, shape, and quantity prevent normal motility and egg penetration, which can lead to infertility.

Infertility can have a devastating effect on couples, both financially and psychologically. In some cases, it can even lead to divorce. Surprisingly, what a man eats can put him at great risk of producing sperm cells that are incapable of fertilizing a woman's eggs. A man's risk of suffering from infertility can be minimized to a great extent with an oil-free whole food plant-based diet, which excludes processed meat products, such as ham, sausage, bacon, salami, hot dog, corned beef, canned meats, and beef jerky, from his diet.

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