Do Carbs and Dairy Affect His Fertility?

Can Carbs and Dairy Damage His Fertility?

November 1, 2012

If you and your partner want to become parents, two recent studies conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health should have your man cutting back on carbs and dairy.

Carbohydrate Study

Dr. Jorge E. Chavarro, MD, and his colleagues examined the correlation between carbohydrate intake and semen quality using data from 189 male test subjects, between the ages of 18 and 22 years. The researchers concluded that higher carbohydrate intake lowered sperm concemtration and motility in the test subjects.

Dairy Study

Another study at the Harvard School of Public Health was spearheaded by Dr. Myriam Afeiche, PhD. She also assembled a pool of 189 men and concluded that the consumption of full-fat dairy could impair sperm quality in men. Higher full-fat dairy intake was associated with decreased sperm concentration and lower motility.

Maya is dedicated to providing women with real ways they can hack their lives to make every day just a little smoother. She has held digital editorial positions within Pearson, Glam Media, and Disney, and her writing appears in women’s lifestyle publications, pregnancy & parenting books—and even on a few labels for olive oil. She loves being outdoors, pretending that she is learning how to kite surf, and wistfully perusing food blogs—an obsession that has not improved her culinary skills, but she still has hope.