By: Heather Hajek
Published: Friday, 25 July 2008
www.healthnews.com
Calling all men who want to become fathers! Soy products may reduce a man's sperm count. Based on a recent study, men who consume soy products may have lower sperm counts than those who don't. The study was based on a small group of men who visited the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center from 2000 to 2006.
Even though the study found that some of the men who ate soy products on a regular basis had lower sperm counts, the researchers conducting the study are not saying that soy products were the cause of the lower sperm concentrations. The men who had soy products in their diets recorded lower sperm counts than those that didn't, but their counts were still within the normal range.
Researchers don't deny that during the study men who consumed soy products had lower sperm counts, but they want people to realize there are other factors other than soy products that may have played a role in the lower sperm counts, such as being overweight or obese. Also, some researchers say the 99 men that were involved in the study may not be a good representation of the average population.
During the study, semen samples were taken from the men and they completed a questionnaire, asking how often they consumed specific soy products and the amounts of the products containing soy they ate. Based on the questionnaire, where the men presented their eating habits over the past three months, almost 40 of the men had no soy products in their diets, 18 had eaten soy products less than a couple times, 22 said they ate soy products between a couple times a month and a couple times a week, and 20 ate soy products at least a couple times a week.
The study, led by Jorge Chavarro with The Harvard School of Public Health, can be seen in the journal Human Reproduction. The researchers state that the clinical significance of their findings still need to be determined, but Chavarro said isoflavones in the soy—hormones that have similar effects to estrogen—could be affecting the sperm counts. The study didn't find that those who ate soy products were outside of the normal range, but they were lower than those men who didn't eat soy products at all and were especially lower in those men who were overweight or obese and ate soy products.
More research seems to be needed to draw more certain conclusions, in regards to sperm count and soy products, but if you already have a lower sperm count you may want to consider removing soy products from your diet just in case.
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