A diet rich in nuts has been associated with a healthy heart, improved appetite control and even lower colon cancer rate.
» RELATED: 4 resources in metro Atlanta if you're having trouble getting pregnant
And new research recently presented at the annual European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology meeting in Barcelona, Spain, suggests nuts may improve male fertility.
For the study, scientists followed 119 healthy young men aged 18-35 for 14 weeks and assessed their diets and multiple fertility parameters, such as sperm count, sperm DNA fragmentation and blood samples.
The men were randomly divided into two groups, one of which added about 60 grams of nuts each day to their normal diet.
» RELATED: Ibuprofen use linked to male infertility, study finds
According to the research, men in the nut group saw a 14 percent improvement in sperm count, 4 percent improvement in sperm vitality, 6 percent motility improvement and 1 percent boost in sperm morphology (shape and size), all of which are World Health Organization parameters linked to male fertility.
But that doesn’t mean men looking to conceive should immediately start adding nuts to their diets.
“We can't yet say that based solely on the results of this study,” study author Dr. Albert Salas-Huetos of Spain’s Universitat Rovira i Virgil, said in a news release, noting that the men in the study were all healthy and apparently fertile. “But evidence is accumulating in the literature that healthy lifestyle changes such as following a healthy dietary pattern might help conception -- and of course, nuts are a key component of a Mediterranean healthy diet.”
A Mediterranean diet consists of lots of vegetables, fruits and whole grains with moderate protein intake. Previous research has found that Mediterranean diets may lower one’s risk of developing dementia, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and more.
» RELATED: A Mediterranean diet could help reduce your risk of developing dementia
Nuts in particular contain many healthy components, such as unsaturated fatty acids, Omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, vitamin E and other nutrients.
According to the National Institutes of Health, studies suggest that 15 percent of couples are unable to conceive after one year of unprotected sex. While infertility is often thought of as a woman’s condition, about 35 percent of couples struggling to conceive identified both a male and female factor.
Factors known to increase a man's risk of infertility include age (40 or older), being overweight or obese, smoking and excessive alcohol use, marijuana use, exposure to testosterone, radiation, high temperatures, pesticides and some medications, according to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More about the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology study.
About the Author
