Soft drinks linked to lower male fertility

tiredA Danish study has revealed that high soft drink consumption can lead to reduced sperm quality.

Would-be fathers have been warned to cut their intake of sugary carbonated drinks after scientists and doctors at the University of Southern Denmark and the Rigshospital, published the findings of a study in the latest edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

The research investigated the correlation of caffeine laden beverages, including soft-drinks, to sperm quality, reports Copenhagen Post.

The study of 2,554 young men, mostly aged around 18-years old, was originally undertaken to determine fitness for military service. The research, however, conducted between 2001 and 2005, discovered that fertility in young males was inversely related to soft drink consumption. The results could also have been affected by a significant rise in fast food consumption in the younger generation, which has mirrored the increase in soft drink sales.

Tina Kold Jensen, the research project leader, claimed that because soft drinks and fast foods were invariably linked, the lowered sperm quality may be a reflection of poor overall diet rather than soft drinks alone.

Jensen also pointed out that there was a significant sperm reduction in subjects who consumed over 14 500ml bottles of cola each week, with the quality of their sperm markedly lower than those who drank less. Jensen dismissed caffeine as a major factor, arguing that sperm quality did not show the same variations under the influence of coffee.

Researchers were also unsurprised to find that those who drank high amounts of soft drinks also exercised infrequently, another proven cause of reduced male fertility.

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