<p>Sugar-sweetened drinks such as soda can lower semen quality, a new study has found.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Researchers have found that high consumption of sugary drinks is associated with low sperm motility, or sperm movement - but this was true only for healthy, lean men.<br /><br />The researchers found no relationship between sugary drink consumption and sperm motility in overweight or obese men.<br /><br />The study analysed the semen of 189 men between the ages of 18 and 22 from Rochester, New York. Each participant got a physical exam, answered a questionnaire about his health habits and diet, and provided a semen sample.<br /><br />The men self-reported how often they consumed sugar-sweetened drinks over the past year, from zero to six drinks per day.<br /><br />Sugary drinks included more than just sodas, said study author Jorge Chavarro, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard.<br /><br />For example, sports drinks alone accounted for about 40 per cent of the sugar-sweetened beverages the men reported drinking.<br /><br />The top 25 per cent of study participants who drank the most sugary drinks consumed an average of 2.7 sugar-sweetened beverages per day, 'Live Science' reported.<br /><br />Consuming this many sugary drinks didn't seem to affect sperm concentration, shape or ejaculation volume, the study found.<br /><br />But the lean men in this high-intake category had 6.3 per cent lower sperm motility than their counterparts who consumed, on average, less than one sugary drink per day.<br /><br />Higher sugary drink intake was also associated with lower levels of a reproductive hormone called the follicle stimulating hormone, or FSH.<br /><br />This hormone helps control sperm production, and the men in the study, both lean and obese, who consumed the most sugary drinks had slightly lower FSH levels.<br /><br />The study was published in the journal Human Reproduction.</p>
<p>Sugar-sweetened drinks such as soda can lower semen quality, a new study has found.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Researchers have found that high consumption of sugary drinks is associated with low sperm motility, or sperm movement - but this was true only for healthy, lean men.<br /><br />The researchers found no relationship between sugary drink consumption and sperm motility in overweight or obese men.<br /><br />The study analysed the semen of 189 men between the ages of 18 and 22 from Rochester, New York. Each participant got a physical exam, answered a questionnaire about his health habits and diet, and provided a semen sample.<br /><br />The men self-reported how often they consumed sugar-sweetened drinks over the past year, from zero to six drinks per day.<br /><br />Sugary drinks included more than just sodas, said study author Jorge Chavarro, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard.<br /><br />For example, sports drinks alone accounted for about 40 per cent of the sugar-sweetened beverages the men reported drinking.<br /><br />The top 25 per cent of study participants who drank the most sugary drinks consumed an average of 2.7 sugar-sweetened beverages per day, 'Live Science' reported.<br /><br />Consuming this many sugary drinks didn't seem to affect sperm concentration, shape or ejaculation volume, the study found.<br /><br />But the lean men in this high-intake category had 6.3 per cent lower sperm motility than their counterparts who consumed, on average, less than one sugary drink per day.<br /><br />Higher sugary drink intake was also associated with lower levels of a reproductive hormone called the follicle stimulating hormone, or FSH.<br /><br />This hormone helps control sperm production, and the men in the study, both lean and obese, who consumed the most sugary drinks had slightly lower FSH levels.<br /><br />The study was published in the journal Human Reproduction.</p>