‘Carotenoids’ is the group name given to: alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein and lycopene – all of which have been found to increase male fertility according to a new study.
The study was carried out by Harvard University School of Public Health, where the focus was on how fruits and vegetables can affect motility (how well a sperm can swim towards an egg).
The study was set up with a questionnaire given to 189 young, college-age men at the Rochester, New York, which surveyed the diets and supplements of each, where researchers were able to estimate the amount of the following micronutrients in the diets of the men:
- vitamin A
- vitamin C
- vitamin E
- all of the carotenoids
Then, after completing the survey each man submitted a semen sample which was analyzed within 30 minutes for:
- semen volume
- sperm count
- sperm motility
- sperm morphology
The results showed that carrots were the food that had the most health benefits to sperm due to the carotenoids they contain. As the men who had an increased carotenoid intake also had faster sperm that could swim as much as:
“6.5% faster than the sperm of men who had the lowest carotenoid intake.”
They also noted that the sperm swam much faster in men who obtained their carotenoid intake from food rather than supplements.